Which to use
“ladder” and “ladle” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,804
- “ladder” frequency rank
- #43,744
- “ladle” frequency rank
- 50548
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ladder | ladle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened rungs (cross strips or rounds acting as steps). | A deep-bowled spoonlike utensil with a long, usually curved, handle. |
Where the eye mixes ladder and ladle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ladder runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against ladle's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ladder with ladle
A purely visual mix-up. ladder (/ˈlad.ə/) and ladle (/ˈleɪ.dəl/) 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 50548, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ladder is recorded at frequency rank #6,804, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlad.ə/. ladle is at rank #43,744, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.dəl/.
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 50548, this pair ranks #173,298 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ladder vs ladle
Shared letters: adel. Private to "ladder": r. Private to "ladle": -.
"ladder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "ladle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ladder" and "ladle" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "ladder" vs "ladle" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ladder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ladle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #173,298 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ladder" and "ladle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ladle vs Lally". 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 #173,298 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.