Which to use
“bores” and “boxes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,207
- “bores” frequency rank
- #4,003
- “boxes” frequency rank
- 39210
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bores | boxes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of bore | plural of box |
Where the eye mixes bores and boxes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: bores vs boxes
A purely visual mix-up. bores (/bɔɹz/) 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 a single letter - r in “bores” becomes x in “boxes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39210, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bores is recorded at frequency rank #35,207, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɔɹz/. 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 39210, this pair ranks #278,794 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bores vs boxes
Shared letters: beos. Private to "bores": r. Private to "boxes": x.
"bores" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "boxes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bores" and "boxes" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "bores" or "boxes" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "bores" and "boxes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bores" 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 #278,794 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bores" and "boxes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bodes vs bores". 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 #278,794 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.