boast

/bəʊst/

//bəʊst// noun

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

"boast" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“boast” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,705. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#14,705
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A brag; ostentatious positive appraisal of oneself.

Corpus desk

Index EN-boast · boast · English

boast · rank #14,705 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #14,705
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bleach

Nearest frequency peer: bleach (-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 “boast”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “boast” 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).

boast vs bot
60% similar
boast vs boys
60% similar
boast vs boss
60% similar

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

Key facts for boast
PropertyValue
Headwordboast
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bəʊst/
Letters5
Frequency rank#14,705
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “boast”

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).boastlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “bleach” (#14,704), “Bowen” (#14,706), “Berkshire” (#14,703). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “boast” is #14,705. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around boast (IPA /bəʊst/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,705 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for boast, with forms such as "baost", "bboast", and "boasst". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bot", "boys", "boss", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bosten, from bost (“boast, glory, noise, arrogance, presumption, pride, vanity”), probably of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bausuz (“inflated, swollen, puffed up, proud, arrogant, bad”). Cognate with Scots bost, … The correct English form is boast, spelled B-O-A-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A brag; ostentatious positive appraisal of oneself.
  2. 2
    Something that one brags about.
  3. 3
    A shot where the ball is driven off a side wall and then strikes the front wall.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. It was his regular boast that he could eat two full English breakfasts in one sitting.

Etymology

From Middle English bosten, from bost (“boast, glory, noise, arrogance, presumption, pride, vanity”), probably of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bausuz (“inflated, swollen, puffed up, proud, arrogant, bad”). Cognate with Scots bost, boist (“to threaten, brag, boast”), Anglo-Norman bost (“ostentation”) (from Germanic). Related to Norwegian baus (“proud, bold, daring”), dialectal German baustern (“to swell”), German böse (“evil, bad, angry”), Dutch boos (“evil, wicked, angry”), West Frisian boas (“bad, wicked, angry, shrewd, clever”). Compare also dialectal Norwegian bausta, busta (“to rush onward, make a noise”). Possible doublet of boost. Compare typologically puffy, Russian напы́щенный (napýščennyj), наду́тый (nadútyj).

This word in other languages

presunción(Español)vantardise(Français)Angeben(Deutsch)ostentação(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • baost
  • bboast
  • boasst
  • boastt
  • bosat
  • obast

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of boast - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

baost2bboast1boasst1boastt1bosat2obast2
Edit distance from "boast"

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 "boast"?
"boast" is spelled B-O-A-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is /bəʊst/.
What does "boast" mean?
As a noun, "boast" means: A brag; ostentatious positive appraisal of oneself.
What words are commonly confused with "boast"?
"boast" is commonly confused with "bot", "boys", "boss". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "boast"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "boast" is /bəʊst/. 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 "boast"?
From Middle English bosten, from bost (“boast, glory, noise, arrogance, presumption, pride, vanity”), probably of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bausuz (“inflated, swollen, puffed up, proud, arrogant, bad”). Cognate with Sc... 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 "boast", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Bowen#14,706brink#14,709Bauer#14,699Cecil#14,716

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

bruh6 variantsaloud6 variantsConor6 variantstread6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list