Which to use
“lac” and “lav” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,379
- “lac” frequency rank
- #48,859
- “lav” frequency rank
- 68238
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lac | lav |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A resinous substance or lacquer produced mainly on the banyan tree by the female of Kerria lacca, a scale insect. | Clipping of lavatory. |
Where the eye mixes lac and lav
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lac and lav
A purely visual mix-up. lac (/læk/) and lav (/læv/) 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 - c in “lac” becomes v in “lav”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lac is recorded at frequency rank #19,379, classified as anoun, pronounced /læk/. lav is at rank #48,859, tagged as anoun, pronounced /læv/.
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 68238, this pair ranks #59,789 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lac vs lav
Shared letters: al. Private to "lac": c. Private to "lav": v.
"lac" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lav" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lac" for "lav" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lac" or "lav"?
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 "lac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lav" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #59,789 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lac" and "lav" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lav vs LSC". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #59,789 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.