bowlervsbroilerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“bowler” and “broiler” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,354
“bowler” frequency rank
#44,098
“broiler” frequency rank
59452
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bowler broiler
Definition One who engages in the sport of bowling. A person who broils, someone who cooks by broiling.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bowler and broiler apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
bowler
7 ch
broiler

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bowler (/ˈbəʊ.lə/) and broiler (/ˈbɹɔɪlə/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bowler is recorded at frequency rank #15,354, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbəʊ.lə/. broiler is at rank #44,098, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɹɔɪlə/.

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 59452, this pair ranks #106,068 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bowler vs broiler

Shared letters: belor. Private to "bowler": w. Private to "broiler": i.

"bowler" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "broiler" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bowlerbbowler · bolwer · bowelr · bowlerr · bowller · bowlre · bowwler · bwoler
  • broilerbbroiler · boriler · brioler · broielr · broilerr · broiller · broilre · brolier

Frequency comparison

bowler#15,354
broiler#44,098

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bowler" and "broiler" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbəʊ.lə/ versus /ˈbɹɔɪlə/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bowler" or "broiler"?
"bowler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,354 in our English list, against #44,098 for "broiler". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bowler vs broiler

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “bowler” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list