lamevsLarveConfusable pair

Which to use

“lame” and “Larve” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#49,857
“lame” frequency rank
#39,496
“Larve” frequency rank
89353
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lame Larve
Definition dünne Platte, dünne Schicht, Klinge Jugendstadium, das sich stark vom geschlechtsreifen Tier unterscheidet und oft keinerlei Ähnlichkeit damit hat

Where the eye mixes lame and Larve

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lame runs 4 letters (CVCV) against Larve's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
lame
5 ch
Larve

Look-alike desk: lame vs Larve

A purely visual mix-up. lame ([lam]) and Larve ([ˈlaʁfə]) 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 89353, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lame is recorded at frequency rank #49,857, classified as anoun, pronounced [lam]. Larve is at rank #39,496, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaʁfə].

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 89353, this pair ranks #58,241 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lame vs Larve

Shared letters: ael. Private to "lame": m. Private to "Larve": rv.

"lame" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Larve" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lame ← alme · laem · lamme · llame · lmae
  • Larve ← alrve · larev · larrve · larvve · lavre · llarve · lrave

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lame" and "Larve" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([lam] versus [ˈlaʁfə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "lame" or "Larve" show up more?
"Larve" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,496 in our German list, against #49,857 for "lame". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lame" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Larve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #58,241 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lame" and "Larve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lähmt 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 #58,241 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list