borevsbraConfusable pair

Which to use

“bore” and “bra” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#42,194
“bore” frequency rank
#43,814
“bra” frequency rank
86008
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bore bra
Definition Élément chimique de numéro atomique 5 et de symbole B, généralement classé parmi les métalloïdes, utilisé notamment dans le verre borosilicaté, les borates et certains alliages. Soutien-gorge.

Where the eye mixes bore and bra

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

4 ch
bore
3 ch
bra

Look-alike desk: bore vs bra

A purely visual mix-up. bore (\bɔʁ\) and bra (\ˈbɹɑ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86008, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bore is recorded at frequency rank #42,194, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɔʁ\. bra is at rank #43,814, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈbɹɑ\.

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 86008, this pair ranks #10,398 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bore vs bra

Shared letters: br. Private to "bore": eo. Private to "bra": a.

"bore" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "bra" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • borebbore · boer · borre · broe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bore" and "bra" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\bɔʁ\ versus \ˈbɹɑ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bore" or "bra"?
"bore" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,194 in our French list, against #43,814 for "bra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bore" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,398 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bore" and "bra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bra vs bury". 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 #10,398 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list