bog

/bɔɡ/

//bɔɡ// noun

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

"bog" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bog” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #18,503) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#18,503
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An area of decayed vegetation (particularly sphagnum moss) which forms a wet spongy ground too soft for walking.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bog · bog · English

bog · rank #18,503 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,503
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH blossoms

Nearest frequency peer: blossoms (-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 neighbourhood for “bog”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “bog” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

bog vs by
33% similar
bog vs BS
0% similar
bog vs br
33% similar

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

Key facts for bog
PropertyValue
Headwordbog
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bɔɡ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#18,503
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bog” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).boglands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “blossoms” (#18,502), “BOM” (#18,504), “blooded” (#18,501). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for bog is neighbouring look-alikes ("by", "BS", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /bɔɡ/. Frequency #18,503 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 8 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Zero misspellings are on record for bog in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "BS", "br", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English bog (originally chiefly in Ireland and Scotland), from Irish and Scottish Gaelic bogach (“soft, boggy ground”), from Old Irish bog (“soft”), from Proto-Celtic *buggos (“soft, tender”) + Old Irish -ach, from Proto-Celtic *-ākos.… The correct English form is bog, spelled B-O-G.

Definition

  1. 1
    An area of decayed vegetation (particularly sphagnum moss) which forms a wet spongy ground too soft for walking.
  2. 2
    An area of decayed vegetation (particularly sphagnum moss) which forms a wet spongy ground too soft for walking.
  3. 3
    An area of decayed vegetation (particularly sphagnum moss) which forms a wet spongy ground too soft for walking.
  4. 4
    Confusion, difficulty, or any other thing or place that impedes progress in the manner of such areas.
  5. 5
    A place to defecate: originally specifically a latrine or outhouse but now used for any toilet.
  6. 6
    An act or instance of defecation.
  7. 7
    A little elevated spot or clump of earth, roots, and grass, in a marsh or swamp.
  8. 8
    Chicken bog.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Near-synonyms: fen, slough, moor
  2. They that ride so... fall into foule Boggs.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English bog (originally chiefly in Ireland and Scotland), from Irish and Scottish Gaelic bogach (“soft, boggy ground”), from Old Irish bog (“soft”), from Proto-Celtic *buggos (“soft, tender”) + Old Irish -ach, from Proto-Celtic *-ākos. The frequent use to form compounds regarding the animals and plants in such areas mimics Irish compositions such as bog-luachair (“bulrush, bogrush”). Its use for toilets is now often derived from the resemblance of latrines and outhouse cesspools to bogholes, but the noun sense appears to be a clipped form of boghouse (“outhouse, privy”), which derived (possibly via boggard) from the verb to bog, still used in Australian English. The derivation and its connection to other senses of "bog" remains uncertain, however, owing to an extreme lack of early citations due to its perceived vulgarity.

Synonyms

morass. See swampmirequagmiremorass

This word in other languages

ciénaga(Español)tourbière(Français)Hochmoor(Deutsch)turfeira(Português)

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 "bog"?
"bog" is spelled B-O-G. The IPA pronunciation is /bɔɡ/.
What does "bog" mean?
As a noun, "bog" means: An area of decayed vegetation (particularly sphagnum moss) which forms a wet spongy ground too soft for walking.
What words are commonly confused with "bog"?
"bog" is commonly confused with "by", "BS", "br". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bog"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bog" is /bɔɡ/. 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 "bog"?
Inherited from Middle English bog (originally chiefly in Ireland and Scotland), from Irish and Scottish Gaelic bogach (“soft, boggy ground”), from Old Irish bog (“soft”), from Proto-Celtic *buggos (“soft, tender”) + Old Irish -ach, from Proto-Celt... 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 "bog", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

BOM#18,504bis#18,497Bea#18,4913DS#18,468

What to do next

You've looked up "bog". Here's where to go from here.

  • "bog" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "by". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #18,503 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "B" letter cohort. B–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list