bold · bald

bold /boʊld/ vs bald /bɔːld/ — one letter apart in spelling, but the vowel shifts from the gliding diphthong /oʊ/ to the steady open /ɔː/. Confident vs no hair.

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⠿ reorder

Bold text on a page — thick dark lettering

adjective — brave and confident, or visually strong — 'bold decision' · 'bold colours' · 'be bold' · bold text in typography

mouth shape

diphthong /oʊ/ — lips round then pull back — like 'gold', 'cold', 'old' — ends in /ld/ cluster — mouth closes as you glide

bold

/boʊld/

vowel length

diphthong /oʊ/

⠿ reorder

A person with a shaved head — completely bald

adjective — having no hair on the head — 'going bald' · 'bald eagle' · 'bald patch' · 'bald-faced lie'

mouth shape

long /ɔː/ — lips fully rounded, mouth more open — like 'called', 'tall', 'all' — ends in /ld/ cluster — HOLD the /ɔː/ longer

bald

/bɔːld/

vowel length

long /ɔː/

Vowel spotlight — gliding vs sustained

bold

/boʊld/

diphthong — rounds then closes

like: gold · cold · old · told

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bald

/bɔːld/

sustained /ɔː/ — hold it, don’t glide

like: called · tall · all · hall

Key difference

Both end in /ld/.bold has the diphthong /oʊ/— your lips round first, then the mouth closes as you glide. Like “gold” or “cold”.bald has the long /ɔː/— lips stay fully rounded and sustained throughout, no glide. Like “called” or “tall”. The /oʊ/ moves; the /ɔː/ stays.

Example sentences

bold:“It was a bold move to quit his job without a new one lined up.”

bold:“She wore a bold red jacket that stood out in the crowd.”

bald:“He started going bald in his late twenties.”

bald:“The bald eagle is a symbol of the United States.”

Hear it in a sentence

“It was a bold decision to leave a stable job during a recession.”

“He went completely bald by the age of thirty-two.”

Hear it in the wild

Real speech from native speakers — the most reliable way to check a pronunciation, since automated audio can vary by device and browser.

YouGlish↗

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