laces vs latches, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#24,812
“laces” frequency rank: #46,583
“latches” frequency rank: 71395
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	laces	latches
Definition	plural of lace	plural of latch

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set laces and latches apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

laces

7 ch

latches

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. laces (/ˈleɪ.sɪz/) and latches (/ˈlætʃɪz/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71395, 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/. latches is at rank #46,583, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlætʃɪz/.

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 71395, this pair ranks #46,921 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of laces vs latches

Shared letters: acels. Private to "laces": -. Private to "latches": ht.

"laces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "latches" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

laces ← alces · lacces · lacess · lacse · laecs · lcaes · llaces
latches ← altches · lacthes · latcches · latcehs · latchess · latchhes · latchse · lathces

Frequency comparison

laces#24,812

latches#46,583

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laces" and "latches" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈleɪ.sɪz/ versus /ˈlætʃɪz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "laces" or "latches"?

"laces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,812 in our English list, against #46,583 for "latches". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering laces vs latches

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
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