bogus
/ˈbəʊ.ɡəs/
"bogus" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bogus” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #16,420 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #16,420
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Counterfeit or fake; not genuine.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bogus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈbəʊ.ɡəs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #16,420 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bogus” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bogus is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbəʊ.ɡəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,420 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for bogus, with forms such as "bbogus", "bgous", and "boggus". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bus", "boys", "boss", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested as an underworld term for an apparatus for creating counterfeit coins, then the coins themselves. Later, the word was applied to anything of poor quality. The newest use to mean useless is probably from the slang of computer hackers. The orig… The correct English form is bogus, spelled B-O-G-U-S.
Definition
- 1Counterfeit or fake; not genuine.
- 2Undesirable or harmful.
- 3Incorrect, useless, or broken.
- 4Of a totally fictitious issue printed for collectors, often issued on behalf of a non-existent territory or country (not to be confused with forgery, which is an illegitimate copy of a genuine stamp).
- 5Based on false or misleading information or unjustified assumptions.
Etymology
First attested as an underworld term for an apparatus for creating counterfeit coins, then the coins themselves. Later, the word was applied to anything of poor quality. The newest use to mean useless is probably from the slang of computer hackers. The origin is unknown, but there are at least two theories that try to trace its origin: * From Hausa boko (“to fake”). Since bogus first appeared in the United States, it may be possible that its ancestor was brought there on a slave ship. * From criminal slang as a short form of tantrabogus, a 19th-century slang term for a menacing object, making some believe that bogus might be linked to bogy or bogey (see bogeyman). In this sense, Bogus might be related to Bogle – a traditional trickster from the Scottish Borders, noted for achieving acts of household trickery; confusing, but not usually damaging.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbogus,bgous,boggus,bogsu,boguss,bougs,obgus
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bogus - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “bogus”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-O-G-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbəʊ.ɡəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bus” - see the side-by-side comparison. bogus vs bus
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.