leapedvslippedWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: leaped is a verb, lipped is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leaped” is a verb and “lipped” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,472
“leaped” frequency rank
#38,020
“lipped” frequency rank
76492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leaped lipped
Definition simple past and past participle of leap Having a raised lip.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
leaped
6 ch
lipped

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leaped is /liːpt/ while lipped is /lɪpt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leaped is recorded at frequency rank #38,472, classified as averb, pronounced /liːpt/. lipped is at rank #38,020, tagged as anadj, pronounced /lɪpt/.

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 76492, this pair ranks #29,958 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of leaped vs lipped

Shared letters: delp. Private to "leaped": a. Private to "lipped": i.

"leaped" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "lipped" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leapedelaped · laeped · leaepd · leapde · leapedd · leapped · lepaed · lleaped
  • lippedilpped · liped · lipepd · lippde · lippedd · llipped · lpiped

Frequency comparison

leaped#38,472
lipped#38,020

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leaped" and "lipped" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leaped" is a verb and "lipped" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leaped" or "lipped"?
"lipped" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,020 in our English list, against #38,472 for "leaped". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leaped vs lipped

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “leaped”; for an adjective, it's “lipped”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “leaped” 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