br

intj

"br" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“br” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #8,393) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#8,393
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative form of brr (“expressing cold and shivering”).

Corpus desk

Index EN-br · br · English

br · rank #8,393 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,393
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-0 0 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH biography

Nearest frequency peer: biography (-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 neighbours of confusable “br”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “br” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

br vs by
50% similar
br vs BS
0% similar
br vs Bt
0% similar

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

Key facts for br
PropertyValue
Headwordbr
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechInterjection
Letters2
Frequency rank#8,393
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “br”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).brlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “biography” (#8,392), “broker” (#8,394), “browser” (#8,395). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “br” is #8,393. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for br is neighbouring look-alikes ("by", "BS", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection. Frequency #8,393 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Gloss: "Alternative form of brr (“expressing cold and shivering”).".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for br, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "BS", "Bt", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is br, spelled B-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative form of brr (“expressing cold and shivering”).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. FORTUNATO - Br... Br... It's cold... (Looks for towel.) Don't you want to freshen up a little? / PHYLLIS (without turning) No thanks. / FORTUNATO - I will not look. I'll admire the view from the window ... Like you ... (slapping his chest)[…]
  2. Br - I'm cold, friend. Why don't you make up a fire to warm us all?

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 "br"?
"br" is spelled B-R.
What does "br" mean?
As an interjection, "br" means: Alternative form of brr (“expressing cold and shivering”).
What words are commonly confused with "br"?
"br" is commonly confused with "by", "BS", "Bt". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "br" come from?
"br" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list