bias
/ˈbaɪ.əs/noun, verb, adjective, adverb
bias is spelled B-I-A-S: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,309th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bias means “Inclination towards something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bias is biases or biasses.
How many letters and syllables are in bias?
| Letters | 4: B-I-A-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,309th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is bias?
Bias appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,309th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bias?
- /ˈbaɪ.əs/
Bias has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bias.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bias
- biases plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- biasses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- biasing participle, present
- biassing participle, present
- biased participle, past
- biassed participle, past
- more bias comparative
- most bias superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bias mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Inclination towards something.
- 2
The diagonal line between warp and weft in a woven fabric.
- 3
A wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (such as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.
- 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
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
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
A person's favourite member of a K-pop band.
The last thing you want is for your camera to die when you finally get that selca with your bias.
verb
- 1
To place bias upon; to influence.
Our prejudices bias our views.
- 2
To give a bias to.
adjective
- 1
Inclined to one side; swelled on one side.
- 2
Cut slanting or diagonally, as cloth.
- 3
nonstandardSynonym of biased (“exhibiting bias; prejudiced”).
adverb
- 1
In a slanting manner; crosswise; obliquely; diagonally.
to cut cloth bias
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bias in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | préjugé, parti-pris , biais |
| German | Voreingenommenheit, Neigung, Ausrichtung, Vorliebe, Verzerrung, Bias |
| Portuguese | predisposição, inclinação, sugestão, pretendência, tendência, tendenciosidade |
| Spanish | sesgo, bías, tendenciosidad , al bies, al sesgo, en diagonal |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bias come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).