labelsvslacesTell them apart

Which to use

“labels” and “laces” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,259
“labels” frequency rank
#24,812
“laces” frequency rank
31071
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature labels laces
Definition plural of label plural of lace

Where the eye mixes labels and laces

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
labels
5 ch
laces

Visual trap between labels and laces

A purely visual mix-up. labels (/ˈleɪ.bəlz/) and laces (/ˈleɪ.sɪz/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

labels is recorded at frequency rank #6,259, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.bəlz/. laces is at rank #24,812, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.sɪz/.

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 31071, this pair ranks #349,239 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of labels vs laces

Shared letters: aels. Private to "labels": b. Private to "laces": c.

"labels" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "laces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • labelsalbels · labbels · labells · labelss · labesl · lables · laebls · lbaels
  • lacesalces · lacces · lacess · lacse · laecs · lcaes · llaces

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "labels" and "laces" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈleɪ.bəlz/ versus /ˈleɪ.sɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "labels" vs "laces" - which ranks higher?
"labels" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,259 in our English list, against #24,812 for "laces". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "labels" and "laces" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "labels" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "laces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #349,239 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "labels" and "laces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laces vs laver". 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 #349,239 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list