boulder

/ˈbəʊl.də(ɹ)/

//ˈbəʊl.də(ɹ)// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"boulder" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“boulder” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,994. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,994
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A large mass of stone detached from the surrounding land.

Corpus desk

Index EN-boulder · boulder · English

boulder · rank #10,994 · 10 variants · 12 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,994
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 12 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH BON

Nearest frequency peer: BON (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “boulder”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “boulder” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

boulder vs bowler
71% similar
boulder vs bulger
71% similar
boulder vs buller
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for boulder
PropertyValue
Headwordboulder
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbəʊl.də(ɹ)/
Letters7
Frequency rank#10,994
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “boulder”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).boulderlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “BON” (#10,993), “Brock” (#10,995), “boiler” (#10,992). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “boulder” is #10,994. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around boulder (IPA /ˈbəʊl.də(ɹ)/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,994 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for boulder, with forms such as "bboulder", "boluder", and "boudler". 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 12 confusable-pair relationships, "bowler", "bulger", "buller", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From late Middle English bulder, short for Middle English bulder ston (“a stone that's been worn into a round shape, boulder, cobblestone”), possibly from Old Swedish *buldersten, itself possibly from Old Swedish bulder (“rumble, noise”) + sten (“stone”); w… The correct English form is boulder, spelled B-O-U-L-D-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A large mass of stone detached from the surrounding land.
  2. 2
    A particle greater than 256 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale
  3. 3
    A large marble, in children's games.
  4. 4
    A session of bouldering; involvement in bouldering.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how boulder appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. There were four sizes of marbles and we called them boulders, biggies, regulars, and teenies.

Etymology

From late Middle English bulder, short for Middle English bulder ston (“a stone that's been worn into a round shape, boulder, cobblestone”), possibly from Old Swedish *buldersten, itself possibly from Old Swedish bulder (“rumble, noise”) + sten (“stone”); whence dialectal Swedish bullersten (“large stone in a stream, causing water to roar around it”). The first element may alternatively be allied to Old Swedish bulle, bolle (“round drinking vessel, tumbler”), from Old Norse bolli, related to Old English bolla (“round object, bowl”), see English bowl.

This word in other languages

peñasco(Español)rocher(Français)Felsbrocken(Deutsch)pedregulho(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bboulder
  • boluder
  • boudler
  • bouldder
  • boulderr
  • bouldre
  • bouledr
  • boullder
  • buolder
  • obulder

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of boulder - 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.

bboulder1boluder2boudler2bouldder1boulderr1bouldre2bouledr2boullder1
Edit distance from "boulder"

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 "boulder"?
"boulder" is spelled B-O-U-L-D-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbəʊl.də(ɹ)/.
What does "boulder" mean?
As a noun, "boulder" means: A large mass of stone detached from the surrounding land.
What words are commonly confused with "boulder"?
"boulder" is commonly confused with "bowler", "bulger", "buller". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "boulder"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "boulder" is /ˈbəʊl.də(ɹ)/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "boulder"?
From late Middle English bulder, short for Middle English bulder ston (“a stone that's been worn into a round shape, boulder, cobblestone”), possibly from Old Swedish *buldersten, itself possibly from Old Swedish bulder (“rumble, noise”) + sten (“... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "boulder", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

coating#11,001analogy#10,979Whitney#10,971Vanessa#10,963

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

Cyprus10 variantsunarmed10 variantsguiding10 variantshopeless10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list