Which to use
“lace” and “lap” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,355
- “lace” frequency rank
- #5,335
- “lap” frequency rank
- 14690
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lace | lap |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread. | The loose part of a coat; the lower part of a garment that plays loosely; a skirt; an apron. |
Where the eye mixes lace and lap
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lace and lap
A purely visual mix-up. lace (/leɪs/) and lap (/læp/) 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 14690, 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/. lap is at rank #5,335, tagged as anoun, pronounced /læp/.
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 14690, this pair ranks #468,526 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lace vs lap
Shared letters: al. Private to "lace": ce. Private to "lap": p.
"lace" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lap" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lace ← alce · lacce · laec · lcae · llace
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lace" for "lap" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "lace" or "lap" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lace" and "lap" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lap" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #468,526 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lace" and "lap" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lace 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 #468,526 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.