liravsLyraConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#32,652
“lira” frequency rank
#45,436
“Lyra” frequency rank
78088
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lira Lyra
Definition ehemalige Währung von Italien; Lira der Kithara ähnliches altgriechisches Zupfinstrument mit fünf bis sieben Saiten

Letter map: lira vs Lyra

Shared letters muted; letters that set lira and Lyra apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. lira and Lyra follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

4 ch
lira
4 ch
Lyra

Spelling & dictionary notes on lira vs Lyra

lira and Lyra are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - i in “lira” becomes y in “Lyra”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78088, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lira is recorded at frequency rank #32,652, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. Lyra is at rank #45,436, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlyːʁa].

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 78088, this pair ranks #246,089 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lira vs Lyra

Shared letters: alr. Private to "lira": i. Private to "Lyra": y.

"lira" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Lyra" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lira ← ilra · liar · lirra · llira · lria
  • Lyra ← llyra · lrya · lyar · lyrra · lyyra · ylra

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lira" and "Lyra" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by a single letter - i in “lira” becomes y in “Lyra”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary German text, does "lira" or "Lyra" show up more?
"lira" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,652 in our German list, against #45,436 for "Lyra". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "lira" and "Lyra".

  • Full dictionary entry for "lira" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lyra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #246,089 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lira" and "Lyra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lepra vs Lyra". 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 #246,089 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