Which to use
“lance” and “langer” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,807
- “lance” frequency rank
- #32,055
- “langer” frequency rank
- 39862
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lance | langer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A weapon of war, consisting of a long shaft or handle and a steel blade or head; a spear carried by horsemen. | Fool; idiot; annoying or contemptible person (usually male). |
Where the eye mixes lance and langer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lance and langer
A purely visual mix-up. lance (/lɑːns/) and langer (/ˈlæŋɚ/) 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 39862, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lance is recorded at frequency rank #7,807, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɑːns/. langer is at rank #32,055, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlæŋɚ/.
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 39862, this pair ranks #272,830 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lance vs langer
Shared letters: aeln. Private to "lance": c. Private to "langer": gr.
"lance" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "langer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lance" for "langer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lance" or "langer"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lance" and "langer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "langer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #272,830 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lance" and "langer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "langer vs laver". 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 #272,830 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.