bass

/beɪs/

//beɪs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bass" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bass” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #4,427) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#4,427
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
3
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of sound, a voice or an instrument, low in pitch or frequency.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bass · bass · English

bass · rank #4,427 · 3 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,427
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 3 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH alarm

Nearest frequency peer: alarm (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “bass”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “bass” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bass vs BS
0% similar
bass vs bus
50% similar
bass vs bay
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bass
PropertyValue
Headwordbass
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/beɪs/
Letters4
Frequency rank#4,427
Misspellings tracked3
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “bass”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).basslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “alarm” (#4,426), “bloody” (#4,428), “acted” (#4,425). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bass” is #4,427. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for bass is neighbouring look-alikes ("BS", "bus", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced /beɪs/. Frequency #4,427 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Gloss: "Of sound, a voice or an instrument, low in pitch or frequency.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for bass, with forms such as "abss", "bbass", and "bsas". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "BS", "bus", "bay", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: A respelling of base under the influence of Italian basso (“low”). The correct English form is bass, spelled B-A-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of sound, a voice or an instrument, low in pitch or frequency.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how bass appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The giant spoke in a deep, bass, rumbling voice that shook me to my boots.

Etymology

A respelling of base under the influence of Italian basso (“low”).

This word in other languages

bajo(Español)bas(Français)bass(Deutsch)grave(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abss
  • bbass
  • bsas

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bass - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

abss2bbass1bsas2
Edit distance from "bass"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bass"?
"bass" is spelled B-A-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /beɪs/.
What does "bass" mean?
As an adjective, "bass" means: Of sound, a voice or an instrument, low in pitch or frequency.
What words are commonly confused with "bass"?
"bass" is commonly confused with "BS", "bus", "bay". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bass"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bass" is /beɪs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bass"?
A respelling of base under the influence of Italian basso (“low”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bass", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

butt#4,430wore#4,422tale#4,416dual#4,443

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list