Which to use
“bra” and “bus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,898
- “bra” frequency rank
- #1,554
- “bus” frequency rank
- 10452
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bra | bus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An item of clothing, usually underwear worn to support the breasts. | A motor vehicle for transporting large numbers of people along roads. |
Where the eye mixes bra and bus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Visual trap between bra and bus
A purely visual mix-up. bra (/bɹɑː/) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10452, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bra is recorded at frequency rank #8,898, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɹɑː/. 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 10452, this pair ranks #492,241 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bra vs bus
Shared letters: b. Private to "bra": ar. Private to "bus": su.
"bra" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "bus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bra" for "bus" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bra" vs "bus" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "bra" and "bus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "bra" 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 #492,241 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bra" and "bus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "BFS vs bra". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #492,241 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.