Which to use
“bust” is a verb and “busted” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,662
- “bust” frequency rank
- #10,003
- “busted” frequency rank
- 16665
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bust | busted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To break. | Having a certain type of bust (breasts; cleavage). |
Where the eye mixes bust and busted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bust with busted
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bust is /ˈbʌst/ while busted is /ˈbʌs.tɪd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “bust” sits inside “busted”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bust is recorded at frequency rank #6,662, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈbʌst/. busted is at rank #10,003, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈbʌs.tɪd/.
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 16665, this pair ranks #456,326 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bust vs busted
Shared letters: bstu. Private to "bust": -. Private to "busted": de.
"bust" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "busted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bust" and "busted" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "bust" vs "busted" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "bust" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "busted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #456,326 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bust" and "busted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "busted vs butted". 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 #456,326 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.