Which to use
“lack” is a verb and “law” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,118
- “lack” frequency rank
- #8,097
- “law” frequency rank
- 20215
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lack | law |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lacken | Gesetz |
Letter map: lack vs law
Shared letters muted; letters that set lack and law apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - lack and law
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lack is averb and lawanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lack is recorded at frequency rank #12,118, classified as averb, pronounced [lak]. law is at rank #8,097, tagged as anoun, pronounced […].
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 20215, this pair ranks #1,900,092 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lack vs law
Shared letters: al. Private to "lack": ck. Private to "law": w.
"lack" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "law" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lack ← alck · lacck · lackk · lakc · lcak · llack
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lack" for "law" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lack" or "law"?
After this comparison
Pair "lack" vs "law" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "lack" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "law" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,900,092 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lack" and "law" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lack vs lame". 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 #1,900,092 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.