bodevsbodiedTell them apart

Quick tell: bode is a verb, bodied is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“bode” is a verb and “bodied” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,746
“bode” frequency rank
#15,352
“bodied” frequency rank
43098
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bode bodied
Definition To indicate by signs, as future events; to be an omen of; to portend or foretell. Having a specified form of body.

Where the eye mixes bode and bodied

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
bode
6 ch
bodied

Why the eye confuses bode with bodied

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bode is /bəʊd/ while bodied is /ˈbɑdid/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bode is recorded at frequency rank #27,746, classified as averb, pronounced /bəʊd/. bodied is at rank #15,352, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈbɑdid/.

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 43098, this pair ranks #243,247 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bode vs bodied

Shared letters: bdeo. Private to "bode": -. Private to "bodied": i.

"bode" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "bodied" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bodebbode · bdoe · bodde · obde
  • bodiedbbodied · bdoied · boddied · bodeid · bodide · bodiedd · boided · obdied

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bode" and "bodied" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bode" is a verb and "bodied" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "bode" vs "bodied" - which ranks higher?
"bodied" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,352 in our English list, against #27,746 for "bode". 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 "bode" and "bodied" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bode" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bodied" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #243,247 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bode" and "bodied" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bode vs Bodie". 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 #243,247 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