Which to use
“boiled” and “bowled” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,510
- “boiled” frequency rank
- #21,459
- “bowled” frequency rank
- 32969
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | boiled | bowled |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of boil | simple past and past participle of bowl |
Where the eye mixes boiled and bowled
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between boiled and bowled
A purely visual mix-up. boiled (/bɔɪld/) and bowled (/bəʊld/) 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 - i in “boiled” becomes w in “bowled”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32969, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
boiled is recorded at frequency rank #11,510, classified as averb, pronounced /bɔɪld/. bowled is at rank #21,459, tagged as averb, pronounced /bəʊld/.
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 32969, this pair ranks #333,377 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of boiled vs bowled
Shared letters: bdelo. Private to "boiled": i. Private to "bowled": w.
"boiled" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "bowled" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "boiled" for "bowled" ever safe?
Which is more common, "boiled" or "bowled"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "boiled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bowled" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #333,377 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "boiled" and "bowled" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bowled vs bowyer". 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 #333,377 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.