Which to use
“lame” is a noun and “lobe” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,857
- “lame” frequency rank
- #32,155
- “lobe” frequency rank
- 82012
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lame | lobe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | dünne Platte, dünne Schicht, Klinge | 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs loben |
Where the eye mixes lame and lobe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lame and lobe follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: lame vs lobe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lame is [lam] while lobe is [ˈloːbə]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82012, 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]. lobe is at rank #32,155, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈloːbə].
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 82012, this pair ranks #165,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lame vs lobe
Shared letters: el. Private to "lame": am. Private to "lobe": bo.
"lame" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lobe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lame" for "lobe" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lame" or "lobe"?
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 "lobe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #165,027 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lame" and "lobe" 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 #165,027 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.