Which to use
“bank” and “bat” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,803
- “bank” frequency rank
- #21,374
- “bat” frequency rank
- 31177
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bank | bat |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | banco | morcego |
Where the eye mixes bank and bat
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: bank vs bat
A purely visual mix-up. bank (/bɑŋk/) and bat (/bæt/) 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 31177, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bank is recorded at frequency rank #9,803, classified as anoun, pronounced /bɑŋk/. bat is at rank #21,374, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bæt/.
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 31177, this pair ranks #36,996 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bank vs bat
Shared letters: ab. Private to "bank": kn. Private to "bat": t.
"bank" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "bat" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bank ← abnk · bakn · bankk · bannk · bbank · bnak
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bank" for "bat" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bank" vs "bat" - which ranks higher?
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 "bank" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bat" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #36,996 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bank" and "bat" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bat vs bué". 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 #36,996 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.