bodiesvsboxesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,064
“bodies” frequency rank
#4,003
“boxes” frequency rank
6067
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bodies boxes
Definition plural of body. plural of box

Where the eye mixes bodies and boxes

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

6 ch
bodies
5 ch
boxes

Why the eye confuses bodies with boxes

A purely visual mix-up. bodies (/ˈbɒd.iz/) and boxes (/ˈbɑksɪz/) 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 6067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bodies is recorded at frequency rank #2,064, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɒd.iz/. boxes is at rank #4,003, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɑksɪz/.

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 6067, this pair ranks #512,887 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bodies vs boxes

Shared letters: beos. Private to "bodies": di. Private to "boxes": x.

"bodies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "boxes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bodiesbbodies · bdoies · boddies · bodeis · bodiess · bodise · boides · obdies
  • boxesbboxes · boexs · boxess · boxse · boxxes · bxoes · obxes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "bodies" and "boxes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbɒd.iz/ versus /ˈbɑksɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "bodies" or "boxes" show up more?
"bodies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,064 in our English list, against #4,003 for "boxes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "bodies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "boxes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #512,887 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bodies" and "boxes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bodes vs boxes". 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 #512,887 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