Which to use
“laces” and “limes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,812
- “laces” frequency rank
- #34,961
- “limes” frequency rank
- 59773
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laces | limes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lace | A boundary or border, especially of the Roman Empire. |
Where the eye mixes laces and limes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. laces and limes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: laces vs limes
A purely visual mix-up. laces (/ˈleɪ.sɪz/) and limes (/ˈlʌɪmiːz/) 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 59773, 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/. limes is at rank #34,961, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlʌɪmiːz/.
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 59773, this pair ranks #104,190 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of laces vs limes
Shared letters: els. Private to "laces": ac. Private to "limes": im.
"laces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "limes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "laces" and "limes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "laces" or "limes"?
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 "limes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #104,190 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laces" and "limes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "liken vs limes". 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 #104,190 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.