Which to use
“lapped” is an adjective and “lapses” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,776
- “lapped” frequency rank
- #32,056
- “lapses” frequency rank
- 72832
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lapped | lapses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Being one or more complete laps behind the leader in a race. | plural of lapse |
Letter map: lapped vs lapses
Shared letters muted; letters that set lapped and lapses apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Role in the sentence - lapped and lapses
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lapped is anadjective and lapsesanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lapped is recorded at frequency rank #40,776, classified as anadj. 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 72832, this pair ranks #41,673 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lapped vs lapses
Shared letters: aelp. Private to "lapped": d. Private to "lapses": s.
"lapped" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lapses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lapped" and "lapses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "lapped" or "lapses" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pair "lapped" vs "lapses" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "lapped" 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 #41,673 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lapped" and "lapses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lances vs lapses". 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 #41,673 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.