bong
/bɒŋ/
"bong" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bong” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,900. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #14,900
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - The clang of a large bell.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bong · bong · English
bong · rank #14,900 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #14,900
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH bohemian
Nearest frequency peer: bohemian (-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 “bong”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- bland
bland
85,104 corpus weight
- blended
blended
85,103 corpus weight
- bohemian
bohemian
85,102 corpus weight
- bong
bong
85,101 corpus weight
- bounded
bounded
85,100 corpus weight
- bows
bows
85,099 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “bong” 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 | bong |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɒŋ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #14,900 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bong” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around bong (IPA /bɒŋ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,900 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for bong, with forms such as "bbong", "bnog", and "bogn". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "boy", "box", "bow", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Onomatopoeic. The correct English form is bong, spelled B-O-N-G.
Definition
- 1The clang of a large bell.
- 2Doorbell chimes.
- 3Clipping of Britbong
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bong appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The sound of a bong echoed across the courtyard, signaling the hour.
An argument began as to whether the trap door would open on the first bong of eight or the eighth bong of eight. A man said he'd been told on the wireless that it was the first bong of Big Ben in London which told the time, […]
Etymology
Onomatopoeic.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- bbong
- bnog
- bogn
- bongg
- bonng
- obng
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bong - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "bong"?
What does "bong" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bong", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
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.