Which to use
“lav” and “lei” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,859
- “lav” frequency rank
- #23,328
- “lei” frequency rank
- 72187
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lav | lei |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clipping of lavatory. | A garland of flowers in Hawaii. |
Where the eye mixes lav and lei
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. lav (CVC) and lei (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: lav vs lei
A purely visual mix-up. lav (/læv/) and lei (/leɪ/) 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 72187, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lav is recorded at frequency rank #48,859, classified as anoun, pronounced /læv/. lei is at rank #23,328, tagged as anoun, pronounced /leɪ/.
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 72187, this pair ranks #43,915 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lav vs lei
Shared letters: l. Private to "lav": av. Private to "lei": ei.
"lav" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lei" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lav" for "lei" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "lav" or "lei" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lav" and "lei" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lav" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #43,915 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lav" and "lei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lav vs LSC". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #43,915 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.