Which to use
“laces” and “licks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,812
- “laces” frequency rank
- #25,454
- “licks” frequency rank
- 50266
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laces | licks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lace | plural of lick |
Where the eye mixes laces and licks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. laces (CVCVC) and licks (CVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses laces with licks
A purely visual mix-up. laces (/ˈleɪ.sɪz/) and licks (/lɪks/) 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 50266, 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/. licks is at rank #25,454, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɪks/.
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 50266, this pair ranks #175,852 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laces vs licks
Shared letters: cls. Private to "laces": ae. Private to "licks": ik.
"laces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "licks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "laces" and "licks" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "laces" vs "licks" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
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 "licks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #175,852 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laces" and "licks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laces vs laver". 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 #175,852 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.