Which to use
“lash” is a noun and “lashed” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,657
- “lash” frequency rank
- #28,609
- “lashed” frequency rank
- 46266
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lash | lashed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given. | simple past and past participle of lash |
Where the eye mixes lash and lashed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lash vs lashed
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lash is /læʃ/ while lashed is /læʃt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “lash” sits inside “lashed”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46266, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lash is recorded at frequency rank #17,657, classified as anoun, pronounced /læʃ/. lashed is at rank #28,609, tagged as averb, pronounced /læʃt/.
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 46266, this pair ranks #213,400 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lash vs lashed
Shared letters: ahls. Private to "lash": -. Private to "lashed": de.
"lash" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lashed" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lash" and "lashed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lash" or "lashed"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lash" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lashed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #213,400 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lash" and "lashed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lashed vs loathed". 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 #213,400 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.