ladenvslamentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: laden is a adjective, lament is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“laden” is an adjective and “lament” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,571
“laden” frequency rank
#20,982
“lament” frequency rank
31553
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laden lament
Definition Weighed down with a load, burdened. An expression of grief, suffering, sadness or regret.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set laden and lament apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
laden
6 ch
lament

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: laden is /ˈleɪdən/ while lament is /ləˈmɛnt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laden is recorded at frequency rank #10,571, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈleɪdən/. lament is at rank #20,982, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ləˈmɛnt/.

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 31553, this pair ranks #345,137 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of laden vs lament

Shared letters: aeln. Private to "laden": d. Private to "lament": mt.

"laden" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lament" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ladenladden · ladenn · ladne · laedn · ldaen · lladen
  • lamentalment · laemnt · lamennt · lamentt · lametn · lamment · lamnet · llament

Frequency comparison

laden#10,571
lament#20,982

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laden" and "lament" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "laden" is an adjective and "lament" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "laden" or "lament"?
"laden" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,571 in our English list, against #20,982 for "lament". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering laden vs lament

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “laden”; for a noun, it's “lament”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “laden” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list