laxvslexWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lax is a adjective, lex is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lax” is an adjective and “lex” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,323
“lax” frequency rank
#12,961
“lex” frequency rank
56284
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lax lex
Definition nicht streng (in der Auslegung von Regeln) das Recht, das Gesetz, die Gesetzessammlung

Letter map: lax vs lex

Shared letters muted; letters that set lax and lex apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

3 ch
lax
3 ch
lex

Role in the sentence - lax and lex

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lax is anadjective and lexanoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - a in “lax” becomes e in “lex”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56284, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lax is recorded at frequency rank #43,323, classified as anadj, pronounced [laks]. lex is at rank #12,961, tagged as anoun.

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 56284, this pair ranks #946,222 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lax vs lex

Shared letters: lx. Private to "lax": a. Private to "lex": e.

"lax" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lex" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lax" and "lex" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lax" is an adjective and "lex" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "lax" vs "lex" - which ranks higher?
"lex" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,961 in our German list, against #43,323 for "lax". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

You've compared "lax" and "lex". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lax" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lex" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #946,222 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lax" and "lex" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs lax". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #946,222 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