Which to use
“bores” and “brews” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,207
- “bores” frequency rank
- #29,198
- “brews” frequency rank
- 64405
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bores | brews |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of bore | plural of brew |
Where the eye mixes bores and brews
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bores (CVCVC) and brews (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between bores and brews
A purely visual mix-up. bores (/bɔɹz/) and brews (/bɹuːz/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64405, 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/. brews is at rank #29,198, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bɹuːz/.
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 64405, this pair ranks #77,893 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bores vs brews
Shared letters: bers. Private to "bores": o. Private to "brews": w.
"bores" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "brews" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bores" for "brews" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "bores" or "brews" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "bores" and "brews" 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 "brews" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #77,893 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bores" and "brews" 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 #77,893 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.