bulletsvsbullsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,876
“bullets” frequency rank
#7,423
“bulls” frequency rank
14299
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bullets bulls
Definition plural of bullet plural of bull

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
bullets
5 ch
bulls

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bullets (/ˈbʊl.ɪts/) and bulls (/bʊlz/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bullets is recorded at frequency rank #6,876, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbʊl.ɪts/. bulls is at rank #7,423, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bʊlz/.

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 14299, this pair ranks #470,872 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bullets vs bulls

Shared letters: blsu. Private to "bullets": et. Private to "bulls": -.

"bullets" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "bulls" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bulletsbbullets · blulets · bulelts · bulets · bullest · bulletss · bulletts · bulltes
  • bullsbbulls · bluls · bullss · buls · bulsl · ublls

Frequency comparison

bullets#6,876
bulls#7,423

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bullets" and "bulls" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbʊl.ɪts/ versus /bʊlz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bullets" or "bulls"?
"bullets" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,876 in our English list, against #7,423 for "bulls". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bullets vs bulls

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 “bullets” 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