Which to use
“boards” and “bores” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,215
- “boards” frequency rank
- #35,207
- “bores” frequency rank
- 39422
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | boards | bores |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of board | plural of bore |
Where the eye mixes boards and bores
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: boards vs bores
A purely visual mix-up. boards (/bɔːdz/) and bores (/bɔɹz/) 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 39422, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
boards is recorded at frequency rank #4,215, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɔːdz/. bores is at rank #35,207, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɔɹz/.
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 39422, this pair ranks #276,854 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of boards vs bores
Shared letters: bors. Private to "boards": ad. Private to "bores": e.
"boards" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC · "bores" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "boards" for "bores" ever safe?
Frequency check: "boards" vs "bores" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "boards" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bores" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #276,854 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "boards" and "bores" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bodes vs bores". 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 #276,854 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.