Which to use
“ladder” and “lodger” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,804
- “ladder” frequency rank
- #48,331
- “lodger” frequency rank
- 55135
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ladder | lodger |
|---|---|---|
| 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 person who lodges in another's house (compare tenant). |
Where the eye mixes ladder and lodger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ladder and lodger follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses ladder with lodger
A purely visual mix-up. ladder (/ˈlad.ə/) and lodger (/ˈlɑd͡ʒɚ/) 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 55135, 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/. lodger is at rank #48,331, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɑd͡ʒɚ/.
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 55135, this pair ranks #135,941 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ladder vs lodger
Shared letters: delr. Private to "ladder": a. Private to "lodger": go.
"ladder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lodger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ladder" and "lodger" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ladder" or "lodger"?
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 "ladder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lodger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,941 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ladder" and "lodger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lodger vs luger". 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 #135,941 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.