Which to use
“lapel” and “laps” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,470
- “lapel” frequency rank
- #11,910
- “laps” frequency rank
- 50380
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lapel | laps |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Each of the two triangular pieces of cloth on the front of a jacket or coat that are folded back below the throat, leaving a triangular opening between. | plural of lap |
Where the eye mixes lapel and laps
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lapel and laps
A purely visual mix-up. lapel (/ləˈpɛl/) and laps (/læps/) 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 50380, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lapel is recorded at frequency rank #38,470, classified as anoun, pronounced /ləˈpɛl/. laps is at rank #11,910, tagged as anoun, pronounced /læps/.
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 50380, this pair ranks #174,855 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lapel vs laps
Shared letters: alp. Private to "lapel": e. Private to "laps": s.
"lapel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "laps" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lapel" and "laps" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "lapel" or "laps" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lapel" and "laps" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lapel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laps" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #174,855 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lapel" and "laps" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lapel vs lope". 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 #174,855 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.