bollocks
/ˈbɒ.ləks/
"bollocks" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bollocks” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,683. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #25,683
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The testicles.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bollocks · bollocks · English
bollocks · rank #25,683 · 11 variants · 2 confusables
- FREQ-MID #25,683
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH blackness
Nearest frequency peer: blackness (-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 “bollocks”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Bhutan
Bhutan
74,321 corpus weight
- biographer
biographer
74,320 corpus weight
- blackness
blackness
74,319 corpus weight
- bollocks
bollocks
74,318 corpus weight
- booed
booed
74,317 corpus weight
- Borneo
Borneo
74,316 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “bollocks” 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 | bollocks |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɒ.ləks/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #25,683 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bollocks” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around bollocks (IPA /ˈbɒ.ləks/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,683 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for bollocks, with forms such as "bbollocks", "blolocks", and "bollcoks". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "bullock", "blocks", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English ballokes (plural of ballok), from Old English beallucas (nominative plural of bealluc). By surface analysis, bollock + -s. Compare cullion. The correct English form is bollocks, spelled B-O-L-L-O-C-K-S.
Definition
- 1The testicles.
- 2Nonsense or information deliberately intended to mislead.
- 3An idiot, an ignorant or disagreeable person.
- 4Ellipsis of the dog's bollocks.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bollocks appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
That's a load of bollocks, mate!
All the dealers would steam into his cabin for a few sherbets after work, and to listen to his bollocks.
Etymology
From Middle English ballokes (plural of ballok), from Old English beallucas (nominative plural of bealluc). By surface analysis, bollock + -s. Compare cullion.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- bbollocks
- blolocks
- bollcoks
- bolloccks
- bollockks
- bollockss
- bollocsk
- bollokcs
- bolocks
- bololcks
- obllocks
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bollocks - 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
How do you spell "bollocks"?
What does "bollocks" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "bollocks"?
How do you pronounce "bollocks"?
What is the origin of the word "bollocks"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bollocks", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "bollocks". Here's where to go from here.
- "bollocks" maps to 2 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "bullock". View pair
- 11 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #25,683 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.