bolster
/ˈbɒlstə/
"bolster" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bolster” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,274 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #19,274
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A large cushion or pillow, usually cylindrical in shape.
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 | bolster |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɒlstə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #19,274 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bolster” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bolster is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɒlstə/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,274 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for bolster, with forms such as "bbolster", "bloster", and "bollster". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "buster", "bolted", "bowser", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bolster, bolstre, from Old English bolster (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *bolstr, from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz (“pillow, cushion”). Cognate with Scots bowster (“bolster”), West Frisian bulster (“mattress”), Dutch bolster (“husk, … The correct English form is bolster, spelled B-O-L-S-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1A large cushion or pillow, usually cylindrical in shape.
- 2A pad, quilt, or anything used to hinder pressure, support part of the body, or make a bandage sit easy upon a wounded part; a compress.
- 3A small spacer located on top of the axle of horse-drawn wagons that gives the front wheels enough clearance to turn.
- 4A short, horizontal structural timber between a post and a beam for enlarging the bearing area of the post and/or reducing the span of the beam.
- 5A beam in the middle of a railway truck, supporting the body of the car.
- 6The perforated plate in a punching machine on which anything rests when being punched.
- 7The part of a knife blade that abuts upon the end of the handle.
- 8The metallic end of a pocketknife handle.
- 9The rolls forming the ends or sides of the Ionic capital.
- 10A block of wood on the carriage of a siege gun, upon which the breech of the gun rests when arranged for transportation.
- 11That which supports or promotes; a catalyst.
- 12A wide-bladed cold chisel designed to split and shape bricks.
Etymology
From Middle English bolster, bolstre, from Old English bolster (“pillow”), from Proto-West Germanic *bolstr, from Proto-Germanic *bulstraz (“pillow, cushion”). Cognate with Scots bowster (“bolster”), West Frisian bulster (“mattress”), Dutch bolster (“husk, shell”), German Polster (“bolster, pillow, pad”), Swedish bolster (“soft mattress, bolster”), Icelandic bólstur (“pillow”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbolster,bloster,bollster,bolsetr,bolsster,bolsterr,bolstre,bolstter,boltser,boslter,oblster
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bolster - 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 “bolster”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-O-L-S-T-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɒlstə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “buster” - see the side-by-side comparison. bolster vs buster
- 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.