lacedvslazerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: laced is a adjective, lazer is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“laced” is an adjective and “lazer” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,882
“laced” frequency rank
#41,730
“lazer” frequency rank
61612
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laced lazer
Definition Fastened with lace or laces (light cordage). One who lazes.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set laced and lazer apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
laced
5 ch
lazer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: laced is anadjective and lazeranoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61612, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laced is recorded at frequency rank #19,882, classified as anadj, pronounced /leɪst/. lazer is at rank #41,730, tagged as anoun.

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 61612, this pair ranks #93,252 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of laced vs lazer

Shared letters: ael. Private to "laced": cd. Private to "lazer": rz.

"laced" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lazer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lacedalced · lacced · lacde · lacedd · laecd · lcaed · llaced
  • lazeralzer · laezr · lazerr · lazre · lazzer · llazer · lzaer

Frequency comparison

laced#19,882
lazer#41,730

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laced" and "lazer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "laced" is an adjective and "lazer" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "laced" or "lazer"?
"laced" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,882 in our English list, against #41,730 for "lazer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering laced vs lazer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “laced”; for a noun, it's “lazer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “laced” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list