librevslilieWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#35,891
“libre” frequency rank
#38,879
“lilie” frequency rank
74770
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature libre lilie
Definition frei hohe Pflanze mit stark duftenden, glockenförmigen Blüten; Lilie

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set libre and lilie apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
libre
5 ch
lilie

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

libre and lilie form a confusable pair in the German index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74770, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

libre is recorded at frequency rank #35,891, classified as anadj, pronounced [libʁ]. lilie is at rank #38,879, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɪlɪjɛ].

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 74770, this pair ranks #324,850 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Frequency comparison

libre#35,891
lilie#38,879

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "libre" and "lilie" be used interchangeably?
No, "libre" and "lilie" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering libre vs lilie

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “libre”; for a noun, it's “lilie”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “libre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list