Which to use
“lances” and “lapses” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,314
- “lances” frequency rank
- #32,056
- “lapses” frequency rank
- 80370
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lances | lapses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lance | plural of lapse |
Where the eye mixes lances and lapses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lances and lapses follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between lances and lapses
A purely visual mix-up. lances (/ˈlænsɪz/) and lapses (/ˈlæpsɪz/) 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 80370, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lances is recorded at frequency rank #48,314, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlænsɪz/. lapses is at rank #32,056, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlæpsɪz/.
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 80370, this pair ranks #19,952 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lances vs lapses
Shared letters: aels. Private to "lances": cn. Private to "lapses": p.
"lances" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lapses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lances" for "lapses" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lances" vs "lapses" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lances" and "lapses" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lances" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lapses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #19,952 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lances" and "lapses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lances vs Laney". 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 #19,952 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.