bolosvsbotónWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“bolos” and “botón” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#22,286
“bolos” frequency rank
#4,860
“botón” frequency rank
27146
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bolos botón
Definition Forma del plural de bolo. Pieza que, inserta en un ojal, se utiliza para abrochar o adornar una prenda de vestir u otro artefacto.

Where the eye mixes bolos and botón

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
bolos
5 ch
botón

Why the eye confuses bolos with botón

A purely visual mix-up. bolos ([ˈbolos]) and botón ([boˈt̪õn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27146, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bolos is recorded at frequency rank #22,286, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈbolos]. botón is at rank #4,860, tagged as anoun, pronounced [boˈt̪õn].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 27146, this pair ranks #228,240 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bolos vs botón

Shared letters: bo. Private to "bolos": ls. Private to "botón": ntó.

"bolos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "botón" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bolosbbolos · bloos · bools · oblos · volos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "bolos" for "botón" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈbolos] versus [boˈt̪õn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "bolos" or "botón" show up more?
"botón" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,860 in our Spanish list, against #22,286 for "bolos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "bolos" and "botón" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bolos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "botón" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #228,240 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bolos" and "botón" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bolos vs boost". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #228,240 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list