Which to use
“boils” and “bones” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,770
- “boils” frequency rank
- #4,141
- “bones” frequency rank
- 23911
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | boils | bones |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of boil | plural of bone |
Where the eye mixes boils and bones
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: boils vs bones
A purely visual mix-up. boils (/bɔɪlz/) and bones (/bəʊnz/) 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 23911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
boils is recorded at frequency rank #19,770, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɔɪlz/. bones is at rank #4,141, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bəʊnz/.
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 23911, this pair ranks #405,865 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of boils vs bones
Shared letters: bos. Private to "boils": il. Private to "bones": en.
"boils" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "bones" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "boils" and "bones" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "boils" or "bones"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "boils" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bones" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #405,865 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "boils" and "bones" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "boils vs BRICS". 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 #405,865 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.