Which to use
“buy” is a noun and “bye” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,771
- “buy” frequency rank
- #6,376
- “bye” frequency rank
- 26147
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | buy | bye |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Achat, acquisition. | Au revoir, salut, à plus. |
Where the eye mixes buy and bye
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses buy with bye
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: buy is \baɪ\ while bye is \baj\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
buy is recorded at frequency rank #19,771, classified as anoun, pronounced \baɪ\. bye is at rank #6,376, tagged as anintj, pronounced \baj\.
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 26147, this pair ranks #336,853 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of buy vs bye
Shared letters: by. Private to "buy": u. Private to "bye": e.
"buy" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "bye" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "buy" for "bye" ever safe?
Which is more common, "buy" or "bye"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "buy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bye" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #336,853 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "buy" and "bye" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bury vs buy". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #336,853 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.