Which to use
“bolus” and “bones” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,942
- “bolus” frequency rank
- #4,141
- “bones” frequency rank
- 51083
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bolus | bones |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A round mass of something, especially of chewed food in the mouth or alimentary canal. | plural of bone |
Where the eye mixes bolus and bones
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bolus and bones follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: bolus vs bones
A purely visual mix-up. bolus (/ˈbəʊləs/) 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 51083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bolus is recorded at frequency rank #46,942, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbəʊləs/. 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 51083, this pair ranks #168,551 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bolus vs bones
Shared letters: bos. Private to "bolus": lu. Private to "bones": en.
"bolus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "bones" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bolus" for "bones" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bolus" vs "bones" - which ranks higher?
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 "bolus" 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 #168,551 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bolus" and "bones" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bodes vs bolus". 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 #168,551 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.