Which to use
“lapel” and “lapse” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,470
- “lapel” frequency rank
- #15,206
- “lapse” frequency rank
- 53676
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lapel | lapse |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | A temporary failure; a slip. |
Where the eye mixes lapel and lapse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lapel (CVCVC) and lapse (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: lapel vs lapse
A purely visual mix-up. lapel (/ləˈpɛl/) and lapse (/læps/) 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 53676, 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/. lapse is at rank #15,206, 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 53676, this pair ranks #147,098 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lapel vs lapse
Shared letters: aelp. Private to "lapel": -. Private to "lapse": s.
"lapel" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lapse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lapel" for "lapse" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lapel" vs "lapse" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lapel" and "lapse" 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 "lapse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #147,098 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lapel" and "lapse" 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 #147,098 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.