bindsvsbisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#17,551
“binds” frequency rank
#18,497
“bis” frequency rank
36048
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature binds bis
Definition plural of bind plural of bi

Where the eye mixes binds and bis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
binds
3 ch
bis

Why the eye confuses binds with bis

A purely visual mix-up. binds (/baɪndz/) and bis (/baɪz/) 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 36048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

binds is recorded at frequency rank #17,551, classified as anoun, pronounced /baɪndz/. bis is at rank #18,497, tagged as anoun, pronounced /baɪz/.

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 36048, this pair ranks #306,632 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of binds vs bis

Shared letters: bis. Private to "binds": dn. Private to "bis": -.

"binds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "bis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bindsbbinds · bidns · bindds · bindss · binnds · binsd · bnids · ibnds

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "binds" and "bis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/baɪndz/ versus /baɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "binds" vs "bis" - which ranks higher?
"binds" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,551 in our English list, against #18,497 for "bis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "binds" and "bis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "binds" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #306,632 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "binds" and "bis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "BFS vs bis". 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 #306,632 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list