Which to use
“lies” and “lilies” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,906
- “lies” frequency rank
- #23,891
- “lilies” frequency rank
- 25797
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lies | lilies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lie | plural of lily |
Where the eye mixes lies and lilies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lies and lilies
A purely visual mix-up. lies (/laɪz/) and lilies (/ˈlɪliz/) 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 extra letter(s) - “lies” sits inside “lilies”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25797, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lies is recorded at frequency rank #1,906, classified as anoun, pronounced /laɪz/. lilies is at rank #23,891, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɪliz/.
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 25797, this pair ranks #391,537 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lies vs lilies
Shared letters: eils. Private to "lies": -. Private to "lilies": -.
"lies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lilies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lies" and "lilies" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lies" or "lilies"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lilies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #391,537 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lies" and "lilies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lilian vs lilies". 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 #391,537 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.