Which to use
“lapses” and “lass” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,056
- “lapses” frequency rank
- #26,145
- “lass” frequency rank
- 58201
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lapses | lass |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lapse | A girl; also (by extension), a young woman. |
Where the eye mixes lapses and lass
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lapses with lass
A purely visual mix-up. lapses (/ˈlæpsɪz/) and lass (/læs/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58201, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lapses is recorded at frequency rank #32,056, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlæpsɪz/. lass is at rank #26,145, tagged as anoun, pronounced /læs/.
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 58201, this pair ranks #114,157 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lapses vs lass
Shared letters: als. Private to "lapses": ep. Private to "lass": -.
"lapses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "lass" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lapses" for "lass" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "lapses" or "lass" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lapses" and "lass" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lapses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lass" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #114,157 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lapses" and "lass" 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 #114,157 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.