bogus
/ˈbəʊ.ɡəs/
"bogus" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bogus” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,420. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #16,420
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Counterfeit or fake; not genuine.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bogus · bogus · English
bogus · rank #16,420 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #16,420
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH BMI
Nearest frequency peer: BMI (-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 “bogus”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- bleak
bleak
83,584 corpus weight
- blender
blender
83,583 corpus weight
- BMI
BMI
83,582 corpus weight
- bogus
bogus
83,581 corpus weight
- booming
booming
83,580 corpus weight
- Bridget
Bridget
83,579 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “bogus” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around bogus (IPA /ˈbəʊ.ɡəs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #16,420 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bogus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He was arrested for trying to cash a bogus check at the bank.
[…] that he and David Whitmer swore falsley, stole, cheated, lied, sold bogus money, (base coin,), and also stones and sand for bogus; that letters in the post-office had been opened, read, and destroyed; and that those same men were concerned with a gang of counterfeiters, coiners, and blacklegs.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bogus", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "bogus". Here's where to go from here.
- "bogus" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "bus". View pair
- 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #16,420 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.