bias

/ˈbaɪ.əs/

//ˈbaɪ.əs// noun

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

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

The verdict

“bias” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,297. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,297
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Inclination towards something.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bias · bias · English

bias · rank #5,297 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,297
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH battles

Nearest frequency peer: battles (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “bias”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “bias” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

bias vs BS
0% similar
bias vs big
50% similar
bias vs bit
50% similar

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

Key facts for bias
PropertyValue
Headwordbias
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbaɪ.əs/
Letters4
Frequency rank#5,297
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bias”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).biaslands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “battles” (#5,296), “Birmingham” (#5,298), “bases” (#5,295). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bias” is #5,297. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around bias (IPA /ˈbaɪ.əs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,297 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for bias, with forms such as "bais", "bbias", and "biass". 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", "big", "bit", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570). From Middle French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c. 1250, as a noun ("oblique angle, slant") from the l… The correct English form is bias, spelled B-I-A-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Inclination towards something.
  2. 2
    The diagonal line between warp and weft in a woven fabric.
  3. 3
    A wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (such as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.
  4. 4
    A voltage or current applied to an electronic device, such as a transistor electrode, to move its operating point to a desired part of its transfer function.
  5. 5
    The difference between the expectation of the sample estimator and the true population value, which reduces the representativeness of the estimator by systematically distorting it.
  6. 6
    In the games of crown green bowls and lawn bowls: a weight added to one side of a bowl so that as it rolls, it will follow a curved rather than a straight path; the oblique line followed by such a bowl; the lopsided shape or structure of such a bowl. In lawn bowls, the curved course is caused only by the shape of the bowl. The use of weights is prohibited.
  7. 7
    A person's favourite member of a K-pop band.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Morality […] give[s] a bias to all their [men's] actions.
  2. nature has pointed out a mixed kind of life as most suitable to the human race, and secretly admonished them to allow none of these biasses to draw too much

Etymology

c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570). From Middle French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c. 1250, as a noun ("oblique angle, slant") from the late 16th century. The French word is likely from Old Occitan biais, itself of obscure origin, most likely from Vulgar Latin *biaxius (“with two axes”).

This word in other languages

inclinación(Español)préjugé(Français)Voreingenommenheit(Deutsch)inclinação(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bais
  • bbias
  • biass
  • bisa
  • ibas

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bias - 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.

bais2bbias1biass1bisa2ibas2
Edit distance from "bias"

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 "bias"?
"bias" is spelled B-I-A-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbaɪ.əs/.
What does "bias" mean?
As a noun, "bias" means: Inclination towards something.
What words are commonly confused with "bias"?
"bias" is commonly confused with "BS", "big", "bit". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bias"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bias" is /ˈbaɪ.əs/. 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 "bias"?
c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570). From Middle French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c. 1250, as a noun ("oblique angle, slant") ... 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 "bias", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

bits#5,299bare#5,293clue#5,306cole#5,308

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

taxi5 variantsSony5 variantsit'd5 variantssoap5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list