Which to use
“bitten” is a verb and “button” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,109
- “bitten” frequency rank
- #2,658
- “button” frequency rank
- 17767
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bitten | button |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of bite | A knob or disc that is passed through a loop or (buttonhole), serving as a fastener. |
Where the eye mixes bitten and button
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: bitten vs button
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bitten is /ˈbɪt.ən/ while button is /ˈbʌt(ə)n/. 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 17767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bitten is recorded at frequency rank #15,109, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈbɪt.ən/. button is at rank #2,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbʌt(ə)n/.
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 17767, this pair ranks #449,275 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bitten vs button
Shared letters: bnt. Private to "bitten": ei. Private to "button": ou.
"bitten" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "button" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bitten" and "button" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "bitten" or "button" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bitten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "button" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #449,275 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bitten" and "button" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bitten vs butted". 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 #449,275 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.