bindsvsbonusTell them apart

Which to use

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

#17,551
“binds” frequency rank
#3,281
“bonus” frequency rank
20832
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature binds bonus
Definition plural of bind Something extra that is good; an added benefit.

Where the eye mixes binds and bonus

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

5 ch
binds
5 ch
bonus

Why the eye confuses binds with bonus

A purely visual mix-up. binds (/baɪndz/) and bonus (/ˈbəʊ.nəs/) 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 20832, 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/. bonus is at rank #3,281, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbəʊ.nəs/.

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 20832, this pair ranks #428,337 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of binds vs bonus

Shared letters: bns. Private to "binds": di. Private to "bonus": ou.

"binds" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "bonus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bindsbbinds · bidns · bindds · bindss · binnds · binsd · bnids · ibnds
  • bonusbbonus · bnous · bonnus · bonsu · bonuss · bouns · obnus

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "binds" for "bonus" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/baɪndz/ versus /ˈbəʊ.nəs/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "binds" vs "bonus" - which ranks higher?
"bonus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,281 in our English list, against #17,551 for "binds". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "binds" and "bonus" 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 "bonus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #428,337 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "binds" and "bonus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bendy vs binds". 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 #428,337 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