billedvsbullerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“billed” and “buller” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,103
“billed” frequency rank
#48,640
“buller” frequency rank
61743
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature billed buller
Definition simple past and past participle of bill To boil or seethe.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set billed and buller apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
billed
6 ch
buller

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. billed (/bɪld/) and buller (/ˈbʊlə(ɹ)/) 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 61743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

billed is recorded at frequency rank #13,103, classified as averb, pronounced /bɪld/. buller is at rank #48,640, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈbʊlə(ɹ)/.

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 61743, this pair ranks #92,473 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of billed vs buller

Shared letters: bel. Private to "billed": di. Private to "buller": ru.

"billed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "buller" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • billedbbilled · biled · bileld · billde · billedd · bliled · iblled
  • bullerbbuller · bluler · bulelr · buler · bullerr · bullre · ubller

Frequency comparison

billed#13,103
buller#48,640

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "billed" and "buller" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/bɪld/ versus /ˈbʊlə(ɹ)/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "billed" or "buller"?
"billed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,103 in our English list, against #48,640 for "buller". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering billed vs buller

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “billed” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list