Which to use
“lake” and “laws” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,564
- “lake” frequency rank
- #1,370
- “laws” frequency rank
- 2934
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lake | laws |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A large, landlocked stretch of water or similar liquid. | plural of law |
Where the eye mixes lake and laws
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. lake (/leɪk/) and laws (/lɔːz/) 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 2934, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lake is recorded at frequency rank #1,564, classified as anoun, pronounced /leɪk/. laws is at rank #1,370, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɔːz/.
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 2934, this pair ranks #523,602 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lake vs laws
Shared letters: al. Private to "lake": ek. Private to "laws": sw.
"lake" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "laws" · 4 letters · shape CVCC