Which to use
“bide” and “bode” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,526
- “bide” frequency rank
- #27,746
- “bode” frequency rank
- 71272
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bide | bode |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To bear; to endure; to tolerate. | To indicate by signs, as future events; to be an omen of; to portend or foretell. |
Where the eye mixes bide and bode
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bide with bode
A purely visual mix-up. bide (/baɪd/) and bode (/bəʊd/) 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 a single letter - i in “bide” becomes o in “bode”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bide is recorded at frequency rank #43,526, classified as averb, pronounced /baɪd/. bode is at rank #27,746, tagged as averb, pronounced /bəʊd/.
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 71272, this pair ranks #47,370 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bide vs bode
Shared letters: bde. Private to "bide": i. Private to "bode": o.
"bide" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "bode" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bide" and "bode" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "bide" vs "bode" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bide" and "bode" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bode" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,370 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bide" and "bode" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bide vs Bodie". 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 #47,370 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.