Which to use
“ladle” is a noun and “large” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,744
- “ladle” frequency rank
- #399
- “large” frequency rank
- 44143
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ladle | large |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A deep-bowled spoonlike utensil with a long, usually curved, handle. | Of considerable or relatively great size or extent. |
Where the eye mixes ladle and large
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ladle vs large
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ladle is /ˈleɪ.dəl/ while large is /lɑːd͡ʒ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ladle is recorded at frequency rank #43,744, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.dəl/. large is at rank #399, tagged as anadj, pronounced /lɑːd͡ʒ/.
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 44143, this pair ranks #233,317 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ladle vs large
Shared letters: ael. Private to "ladle": d. Private to "large": gr.
"ladle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "large" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ladle" and "large" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ladle" or "large"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ladle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "large" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #233,317 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ladle" and "large" 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 #233,317 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.