Which to use
“lacked” and “lasted” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,622
- “lacked” frequency rank
- #6,158
- “lasted” frequency rank
- 15780
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lacked | lasted |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of lack | simple past and past participle of last |
Where the eye mixes lacked and lasted
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lacked with lasted
A purely visual mix-up. lacked (/lækt/) and lasted (/ˈlɑːstɪd/) 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 15780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lacked is recorded at frequency rank #9,622, classified as averb, pronounced /lækt/. lasted is at rank #6,158, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈlɑːstɪd/.
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 15780, this pair ranks #461,857 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lacked vs lasted
Shared letters: adel. Private to "lacked": ck. Private to "lasted": st.
"lacked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lasted" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lacked" and "lasted" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lacked" or "lasted"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lacked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lasted" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #461,857 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lacked" and "lasted" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lacked vs lapped". 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 #461,857 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.