Which to use
“bends” and “bento” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,494
- “bends” frequency rank
- #41,526
- “bento” frequency rank
- 60020
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bends | bento |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of bend | A Japanese takeaway lunch served in a box, often with the food arranged into an elaborate design. |
Where the eye mixes bends and bento
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bends (CVCCC) and bento (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between bends and bento
A purely visual mix-up. bends (/bɛndz/) and bento (/ˈbɛntəʊ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60020, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bends is recorded at frequency rank #18,494, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɛndz/. bento is at rank #41,526, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɛntəʊ/.
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 60020, this pair ranks #102,670 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bends vs bento
Shared letters: ben. Private to "bends": ds. Private to "bento": ot.
"bends" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "bento" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bends" and "bento" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "bends" or "bento" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bends" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bento" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #102,670 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bends" and "bento" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bendy vs bento". 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 #102,670 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.