Which to use
“bind” is a verb and “brad” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,331
- “bind” frequency rank
- #5,861
- “brad” frequency rank
- 16192
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bind | brad |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To tie; to confine by any ligature. | A thin, small nail, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head, or occasionally with a small domed head, similar to that of an escutcheon pin. |
Where the eye mixes bind and brad
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bind with brad
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bind is /baɪnd/ while brad is /bɹad/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16192, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bind is recorded at frequency rank #10,331, classified as averb, pronounced /baɪnd/. brad is at rank #5,861, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɹad/.
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 16192, this pair ranks #459,307 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bind vs brad
Shared letters: bd. Private to "bind": in. Private to "brad": ar.
"bind" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "brad" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bind" for "brad" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bind" vs "brad" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bind" and "brad" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bind" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "brad" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #459,307 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bind" and "brad" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bendy vs bind". 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 #459,307 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.