Which to use
“bol” and “bolha” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,715
- “bol” frequency rank
- #9,298
- “bolha” frequency rank
- 43013
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bol | bolha |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | bacia | pulga |
Where the eye mixes bol and bolha
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. bol runs 3 letters (CVC) against bolha's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bol and bolha
A purely visual mix-up. bol (/ˈbɔɫ/) and bolha (/bol.hɒ/.) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “bol” sits inside “bolha”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43013, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bol is recorded at frequency rank #33,715, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɔɫ/. bolha is at rank #9,298, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bol.hɒ/..
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 43013, this pair ranks #22,667 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bol vs bolha
Shared letters: blo. Private to "bol": -. Private to "bolha": ah.
"bol" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "bolha" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- bolha ← bbolha · bloha · bohla · bolah · bolhha · bollha · oblha
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bol" and "bolha" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "bol" vs "bolha" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "bol" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bolha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,667 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bol" and "bolha" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bile vs bol". 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 #22,667 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.