budgevsbulgerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: budge is a verb, bulger is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“budge” is a verb and “bulger” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,462
“budge” frequency rank
#46,954
“bulger” frequency rank
68416
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature budge bulger
Definition To move; to be shifted from a fixed position. Something that has a bulge.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set budge and bulger apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
budge
6 ch
bulger

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: budge is averb and bulgeranoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68416, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

budge is recorded at frequency rank #21,462, classified as averb, pronounced /bʌd͡ʒ/. bulger is at rank #46,954, tagged as anoun.

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 68416, this pair ranks #58,961 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of budge vs bulger

Shared letters: begu. Private to "budge": d. Private to "bulger": lr.

"budge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "bulger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • budgebbudge · bduge · buddge · budeg · budgge · bugde · ubdge
  • bulgerbbulger · bluger · bugler · bulegr · bulgerr · bulgger · bulgre · bullger

Frequency comparison

budge#21,462
bulger#46,954

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "budge" and "bulger" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "budge" is a verb and "bulger" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "budge" or "bulger"?
"budge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,462 in our English list, against #46,954 for "bulger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering budge vs bulger

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “budge”; for a noun, it's “bulger”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “budge” 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