bodesvsbowelWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,094
“bodes” frequency rank
#13,872
“bowel” frequency rank
61966
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bodes bowel
Definition plural of bode A part or division of the intestines, usually the large intestine.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bodes and bowel apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
bodes
5 ch
bowel

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bodes (/bəʊdz/) and bowel (/ˈbaʊ.əl/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61966, 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/. bowel is at rank #13,872, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaʊ.əl/.

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 61966, this pair ranks #91,109 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bodes vs bowel

Shared letters: beo. Private to "bodes": ds. Private to "bowel": lw.

"bodes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "bowel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bodesbbodes · bdoes · boddes · bodess · bodse · boeds · obdes
  • bowelbbowel · boewl · bowell · bowle · bowwel · bwoel · obwel

Frequency comparison

bodes#48,094
bowel#13,872

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bodes" and "bowel" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/bəʊdz/ versus /ˈbaʊ.əl/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bodes" or "bowel"?
"bowel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,872 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 bowel

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

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list