Which to use
“lacks” and “lass” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,444
- “lacks” frequency rank
- #26,145
- “lass” frequency rank
- 34589
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lacks | lass |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lack | A girl; also (by extension), a young woman. |
Where the eye mixes lacks and lass
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lacks vs lass
A purely visual mix-up. lacks (/læks/) and lass (/læs/) 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 34589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lacks is recorded at frequency rank #8,444, classified as anoun, pronounced /læks/. lass is at rank #26,145, tagged as anoun, pronounced /læs/.
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 34589, this pair ranks #319,483 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lacks vs lass
Shared letters: als. Private to "lacks": ck. Private to "lass": -.
"lacks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "lass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lacks" and "lass" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lacks" vs "lass" - 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 "lacks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lass" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #319,483 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lacks" and "lass" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lass vs LSC". 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 #319,483 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.