Which to use
“lah” is a noun and “lame” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,894
- “lah” frequency rank
- #7,707
- “lame” frequency rank
- 52601
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lah | lame |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of la. | Unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs. |
Where the eye mixes lah and lame
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lah runs 3 letters (CVC) against lame's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between lah and lame
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lah is /lɑː/ while lame is /leɪm/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lah is recorded at frequency rank #44,894, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɑː/. lame is at rank #7,707, tagged as anadj, pronounced /leɪm/.
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 52601, this pair ranks #155,711 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lah vs lame
Shared letters: al. Private to "lah": h. Private to "lame": em.
"lah" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lame" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lame ← alme · laem · lamme · llame · lmae
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lah" and "lame" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "lah" or "lame" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lah" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lame" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #155,711 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lah" and "lame" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lah vs LSC". 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 #155,711 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.