Which to use
“bowe” and “bowed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,557
- “bowe” frequency rank
- #18,773
- “bowed” frequency rank
- 61330
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bowe | bowed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obsolete spelling of bow. | simple past and past participle of bow |
Letter map: bowe vs bowed
Shared letters muted; letters that set bowe and bowed apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Corpus notes: bowe and bowed
bowe and bowed are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “bowe” sits inside “bowed”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bowe is recorded at frequency rank #42,557, classified as averb. bowed is at rank #18,773, tagged as averb, pronounced /baʊd/.
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 61330, this pair ranks #94,923 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of bowe vs bowed
Shared letters: beow. Private to "bowe": -. Private to "bowed": d.
"bowe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "bowed" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bowe" and "bowed" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "bowe" vs "bowed" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pair "bowe" vs "bowed" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "bowe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bowed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #94,923 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bowe" and "bowed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bowe vs bowyer". 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 #94,923 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.