Which to use
“laces” and “lances” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,812
- “laces” frequency rank
- #48,314
- “lances” frequency rank
- 73126
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laces | lances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lace | plural of lance |
Where the eye mixes laces and lances
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. laces runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against lances's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between laces and lances
A purely visual mix-up. laces (/ˈleɪ.sɪz/) and lances (/ˈlænsɪz/) 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 73126, 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/. lances is at rank #48,314, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlænsɪz/.
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 73126, this pair ranks #40,652 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of laces vs lances
Shared letters: acels. Private to "laces": -. Private to "lances": n.
"laces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lances" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "laces" and "lances" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "laces" vs "lances" - which ranks higher?
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 "laces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lances" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,652 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laces" and "lances" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lances vs Laney". 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 #40,652 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.