Which to use
“lace” and “LAN” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,355
- “lace” frequency rank
- #12,268
- “LAN” frequency rank
- 21623
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lace | LAN |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread. | Acronym of local area network. |
Where the eye mixes lace and LAN
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lace vs LAN
A purely visual mix-up. lace (/leɪs/) and LAN (/læn/) 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 21623, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lace is recorded at frequency rank #9,355, classified as anoun, pronounced /leɪs/. LAN is at rank #12,268, tagged as anoun, pronounced /læn/.
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 21623, this pair ranks #422,544 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lace vs LAN
Shared letters: al. Private to "lace": ce. Private to "LAN": n.
"lace" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "LAN" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lace ← alce · lacce · laec · lcae · llace
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lace" for "LAN" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lace" or "LAN"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "LAN" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #422,544 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lace" and "LAN" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "LAN vs LSC". 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 #422,544 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.