Which to use
“bolus” and “bus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,942
- “bolus” frequency rank
- #1,554
- “bus” frequency rank
- 48496
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bolus | bus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A round mass of something, especially of chewed food in the mouth or alimentary canal. | A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads. |
Where the eye mixes bolus and bus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bolus runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against bus's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses bolus with bus
A purely visual mix-up. bolus (/ˈbəʊləs/) and bus (/bʌs/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48496, 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/. bus is at rank #1,554, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bʌs/.
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 48496, this pair ranks #192,541 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bolus vs bus
Shared letters: bsu. Private to "bolus": lo. Private to "bus": -.
"bolus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "bus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bolus ← bbolus · blous · bollus · bolsu · boluss · bouls · oblus
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bolus" for "bus" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bolus" or "bus"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bolus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #192,541 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bolus" and "bus" 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 #192,541 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.