lakervslatherWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“laker” and “lather” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,382
“laker” frequency rank
#40,777
“lather” frequency rank
76159
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature laker lather
Definition One engaged in sport; a player; an actor. The foam made by rapidly stirring soap and water.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set laker and lather apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
laker
6 ch
lather

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. laker (/ˈleɪkə(ɹ)/) and lather (/ˈlɑː.ðə/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76159, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

laker is recorded at frequency rank #35,382, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪkə(ɹ)/. lather is at rank #40,777, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɑː.ðə/.

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 76159, this pair ranks #30,906 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of laker vs lather

Shared letters: aelr. Private to "laker": k. Private to "lather": ht.

"laker" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lather" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lakeralker · laekr · lakerr · lakker · lakre · lkaer · llaker
  • latheralther · lahter · latehr · latherr · lathher · lathre · latther · llather

Frequency comparison

laker#35,382
lather#40,777

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "laker" and "lather" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈleɪkə(ɹ)/ versus /ˈlɑː.ðə/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "laker" or "lather"?
"laker" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,382 in our English list, against #40,777 for "lather". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering laker vs lather

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “laker” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list