lathervslauderWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“lather” and “lauder” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#40,777
“lather” frequency rank
#34,955
“lauder” frequency rank
75732
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lather lauder
Definition The foam made by rapidly stirring soap and water. One who lauds (communicates high praises)

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lather and lauder apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
lather
6 ch
lauder

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lather (/ˈlɑː.ðə/) and lauder (/ˈlɔː.də/) 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 75732, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lather is recorded at frequency rank #40,777, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɑː.ðə/. lauder is at rank #34,955, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɔː.də/.

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 75732, this pair ranks #32,191 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lather vs lauder

Shared letters: aelr. Private to "lather": ht. Private to "lauder": du.

"lather" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lauder" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • latheralther · lahter · latehr · latherr · lathher · lathre · latther · llather
  • lauderaluder · laduer · laudder · lauderr · laudre · lauedr · llauder · luader

Frequency comparison

lather#40,777
lauder#34,955

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lather" and "lauder" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈlɑː.ðə/ versus /ˈlɔː.də/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lather" or "lauder"?
"lauder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,955 in our English list, against #40,777 for "lather". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lather vs lauder

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lather” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list