Which to use
“bees” and “behest” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,529
- “bees” frequency rank
- #29,184
- “behest” frequency rank
- 36713
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bees | behest |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of bee | A command, bidding; sometimes also, an authoritative request; now usually in the phrase at the behest of and at one's behest. |
Where the eye mixes bees and behest
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bees with behest
A purely visual mix-up. bees (/ˈbiːz/) and behest (/bɪˈhɛst/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36713, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bees is recorded at frequency rank #7,529, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbiːz/. behest is at rank #29,184, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɪˈhɛst/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 36713, this pair ranks #300,813 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bees vs behest
Shared letters: bes. Private to "bees": -. Private to "behest": ht.
"bees" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "behest" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bees" for "behest" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bees" vs "behest" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "bees" and "behest" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bees" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "behest" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #300,813 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bees" and "behest" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "behead vs behest". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #300,813 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.