Which to use
“lah” and “leash” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,894
- “lah” frequency rank
- #15,650
- “leash” frequency rank
- 60544
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lah | leash |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of la. | A strap, cord or rope with which to restrain an animal, often a dog. |
Where the eye mixes lah and leash
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lah with leash
A purely visual mix-up. lah (/lɑː/) and leash (/liːʃ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60544, 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/. leash is at rank #15,650, tagged as anoun, pronounced /liːʃ/.
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 60544, this pair ranks #99,615 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lah vs leash
Shared letters: ahl. Private to "lah": -. Private to "leash": es.
"lah" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "leash" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- leash ← elash · laesh · leahs · leashh · leassh · lesah · lleash
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lah" and "leash" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lah" vs "leash" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
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 "leash" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,615 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lah" and "leash" 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 #99,615 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.