Which to use
“ladder” and “laver” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,804
- “ladder” frequency rank
- #49,457
- “laver” frequency rank
- 56261
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ladder | laver |
|---|---|---|
| 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 red alga/seaweed, Porphyra umbilicalis (syn. Porphyra laciniata), eaten as a vegetable. |
Where the eye mixes ladder and laver
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ladder runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against laver's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ladder vs laver
A purely visual mix-up. ladder (/ˈlad.ə/) and laver (/ˈlɑːvə/) 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 56261, 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/. laver is at rank #49,457, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɑːvə/.
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 56261, this pair ranks #127,547 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ladder vs laver
Shared letters: aelr. Private to "ladder": d. Private to "laver": v.
"ladder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "laver" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ladder" and "laver" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ladder" or "laver"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ladder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laver" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #127,547 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ladder" and "laver" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lav 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 #127,547 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.