Which to use
“bodes” and “buds” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,094
- “bodes” frequency rank
- #12,381
- “buds” frequency rank
- 60475
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bodes | buds |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of bode | plural of bud |
Where the eye mixes bodes and buds
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between bodes and buds
A purely visual mix-up. bodes (/bəʊdz/) and buds (/bʌdz/) 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 60475, 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/. buds is at rank #12,381, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bʌdz/.
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 60475, this pair ranks #100,004 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bodes vs buds
Shared letters: bds. Private to "bodes": eo. Private to "buds": u.
"bodes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "buds" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bodes" for "buds" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bodes" or "buds"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "bodes" and "buds" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bodes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "buds" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #100,004 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bodes" and "buds" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bodes 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 #100,004 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.