blindersvsblunderWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,531
“blinders” frequency rank
#24,395
“blunder” frequency rank
65926
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature blinders blunder
Definition plural of blinder A clumsy or embarrassing mistake.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set blinders and blunder apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
blinders
7 ch
blunder

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. blinders (/ˈblaɪndəz/) and blunder (/ˈblʌn.də(ɹ)/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65926, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

blinders is recorded at frequency rank #41,531, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈblaɪndəz/. blunder is at rank #24,395, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈblʌn.də(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 65926, this pair ranks #70,418 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of blinders vs blunder

Shared letters: bdelnr. Private to "blinders": is. Private to "blunder": u.

"blinders" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "blunder" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • blindersbblinders · bilnders · blidners · blindders · blinderrs · blinderss · blindesr · blindres
  • blunderbblunder · bllunder · blnuder · bludner · blundder · blunderr · blundre · blunedr

Frequency comparison

blinders#41,531
blunder#24,395

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "blinders" and "blunder" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈblaɪndəz/ versus /ˈblʌn.də(ɹ)/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "blinders" or "blunder"?
"blunder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,395 in our English list, against #41,531 for "blinders". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering blinders vs blunder

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 “blinders” 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