Which to use
“lame” and “Lauer” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,857
- “lame” frequency rank
- #19,632
- “Lauer” frequency rank
- 69489
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lame | Lauer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dünne Platte, dünne Schicht, Klinge | Hinterhalt |
Where the eye mixes lame and Lauer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lame runs 4 letters (CVCV) against Lauer's 5 (CVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: lame vs Lauer
A purely visual mix-up. lame ([lam]) and Lauer ([ˈlaʊ̯ɐ]) 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 69489, 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]. Lauer is at rank #19,632, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaʊ̯ɐ].
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 69489, this pair ranks #475,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lame vs Lauer
Shared letters: ael. Private to "lame": m. Private to "Lauer": ru.
"lame" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Lauer" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lame" and "Lauer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lame" vs "Lauer" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lame" and "Lauer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lame" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lauer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #475,026 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lame" and "Lauer" 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 #475,026 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.