Which to use
“laces” and “lies” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,812
- “laces” frequency rank
- #1,906
- “lies” frequency rank
- 26718
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laces | lies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lace | plural of lie |
Where the eye mixes laces and lies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between laces and lies
A purely visual mix-up. laces (/ˈleɪ.sɪz/) and lies (/laɪz/) 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 26718, 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/. lies is at rank #1,906, tagged as anoun, pronounced /laɪz/.
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 26718, this pair ranks #384,580 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laces vs lies
Shared letters: els. Private to "laces": ac. Private to "lies": i.
"laces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "laces" and "lies" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "laces" vs "lies" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "laces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #384,580 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laces" and "lies" 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 #384,580 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.