Bias vs. Biased

How to use "bias" and "biased" correctly

This is an entry on my list of Common Errors in English Usage. Visit the main page for direct links to additional entries.

Bias is both a noun and a verb; biased is a participle (verb form) often used as an adjective:

wording that biases the poll results [verb]
has a bias against the poor [noun]

test is bias against the poor
a bias and unfair test

test is biased against the poor [participial adjective describing test]
a biased and unfair test [participial adjective describing test]

Note that this is also true of the participial adjective prejudiced:

a prejudice jury
a prejudiced jury

Related Resources

Common Errors in English Usage: Errors in diction and idiom commonly made by native speakers of English

List of Common Errors in English Usage (PDF): Printable version of the complete list

Common Grammar Errors: A list of common errors in grammar (topics like subject-verb agreement and parallelism) as distinct from usage

List of Common Errors in English Usage: PDF version

© 2006, 2008, and 2019 C. Brantley Collins, Jr.