bodes vs bores, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#48,094
“bodes” frequency rank: #35,207
“bores” frequency rank: 83301
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	bodes	bores
Definition	plural of bode	plural of bore

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bodes and bores apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

bodes

5 ch

bores

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bodes (/bəʊdz/) 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 a single letter - d in “bodes” becomes r in “bores”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bodes is recorded at frequency rank #48,094, classified as anoun, pronounced /bəʊdz/. 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 83301, this pair ranks #14,092 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bodes vs bores

Shared letters: beos. Private to "bodes": d. Private to "bores": r.

"bodes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "bores" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

bodes ← bbodes · bdoes · boddes · bodess · bodse · boeds · obdes
bores ← bbores · boress · borres · borse · broes · obres

Frequency comparison

bodes#48,094

bores#35,207

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bodes" and "bores" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/bəʊdz/ versus /bɔɹz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "bodes" or "bores"?

"bores" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,207 in our English list, against #48,094 for "bodes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bodes vs bores

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 “bodes” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable