Which to use
“lady” and “lake” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,194
- “lady” frequency rank
- #1,564
- “lake” frequency rank
- 2758
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lady | lake |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The mistress of a household. | A large, landlocked stretch of water or similar liquid. |
Where the eye mixes lady and lake
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. lady (/ˈleɪ.di/) and lake (/leɪk/) 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 2758, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lady is recorded at frequency rank #1,194, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.di/. lake is at rank #1,564, tagged as anoun, pronounced /leɪk/.
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 2758, this pair ranks #524,119 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lady vs lake
Shared letters: al. Private to "lady": dy. Private to "lake": ek.
"lady" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lake" · 4 letters · shape CVCV