boob
/ˈbuːb/
"boob" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“boob” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #16,852) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #16,852
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
- 3
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An idiot; a fool.
Corpus desk
Index EN-boob · boob · English
boob · rank #16,852 · 3 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #16,852
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-LOW 3 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH biking
Nearest frequency peer: biking (-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 “boob”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Beatrice
Beatrice
83,152 corpus weight
- Beethoven
Beethoven
83,151 corpus weight
- biking
biking
83,150 corpus weight
- boob
boob
83,149 corpus weight
- bouquet
bouquet
83,147 corpus weight
- boxers
boxers
83,146 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “boob” 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 | boob |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbuːb/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #16,852 |
| Misspellings tracked | 3 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “boob” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for boob is neighbouring look-alikes ("boy", "box", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈbuːb/. Frequency #16,852 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for boob, with forms such as "bboob", "boobb", and "obob". 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", "bro", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Clipped form of booby (“fool”). Appeared near the beginning of the twentieth century; more information at booby § Etymology 1. The correct English form is boob, spelled B-O-O-B.
Definition
- 1An idiot; a fool.
- 2A mistake.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how boob appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Not having an ear for music it annoys me to hear the boobs squeal.
[BURNS AND ENSEMBLE]: Look at all those idiots. Oh, look at all those boobs. An office full of morons. A factory full of fools. Is it any wonder that I'm singing, singing the blues!?
Etymology
Clipped form of booby (“fool”). Appeared near the beginning of the twentieth century; more information at booby § Etymology 1.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- bboob
- boobb
- obob
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of boob - 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 "boob"?
What does "boob" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "boob"?
How do you pronounce "boob"?
What is the origin of the word "boob"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "boob", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
What to do next
You've looked up "boob". Here's where to go from here.
- "boob" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "boy". View pair
- 3 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #16,852 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.