Which to use
“label” and “lapel” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,436
- “label” frequency rank
- #38,470
- “lapel” frequency rank
- 41906
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | label | lapel |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached. | Each of the two triangular pieces of cloth on the front of a jacket or coat that are folded back below the throat, leaving a triangular opening between. |
Where the eye mixes label and lapel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: label vs lapel
A purely visual mix-up. label (/ˈleɪ.bəl/) and lapel (/ləˈpɛl/) 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 a single letter - b in “label” becomes p in “lapel”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41906, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
label is recorded at frequency rank #3,436, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.bəl/. lapel is at rank #38,470, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ləˈpɛl/.
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 41906, this pair ranks #254,052 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of label vs lapel
Shared letters: ael. Private to "label": b. Private to "lapel": p.
"label" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lapel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "label" and "lapel" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "label" vs "lapel" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "label" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lapel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,052 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "label" and "lapel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lapel vs lope". 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 #254,052 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.