lacesvslakerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,812
“laces” frequency rank
#35,382
“laker” frequency rank
60194
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laces laker
Definition plural of lace One engaged in sport; a player; an actor.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
laces
5 ch
laker

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. laces (/ˈleɪ.sɪz/) and laker (/ˈleɪkə(ɹ)/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60194, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laces is recorded at frequency rank #24,812, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.sɪz/. laker is at rank #35,382, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪkə(ɹ)/.

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 60194, this pair ranks #101,664 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of laces vs laker

Shared letters: ael. Private to "laces": cs. Private to "laker": kr.

"laces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "laker" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lacesalces · lacces · lacess · lacse · laecs · lcaes · llaces
  • lakeralker · laekr · lakerr · lakker · lakre · lkaer · llaker

Frequency comparison

laces#24,812
laker#35,382

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laces" and "laker" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈleɪ.sɪz/ versus /ˈleɪkə(ɹ)/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "laces" or "laker"?
"laces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,812 in our English list, against #35,382 for "laker". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering laces vs laker

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “laces” 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