likevslopeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42
“like” frequency rank
#49,466
“lope” frequency rank
49508
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature like lope
Definition To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of. To travel an easy pace with long strides.

Where the eye mixes like and lope

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
like
4 ch
lope

Why the eye confuses like with lope

A purely visual mix-up. like (/laɪ̯k/) and lope (/ləʊp/) 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 49508, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

like is recorded at frequency rank #42, classified as averb, pronounced /laɪ̯k/. lope is at rank #49,466, tagged as averb, pronounced /ləʊp/.

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 49508, this pair ranks #182,906 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of like vs lope

Shared letters: el. Private to "like": ik. Private to "lope": op.

"like" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lope" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • likeilke · liek · likke · lkie · llike
  • lopellope · loep · loppe · lpoe · olpe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "like" and "lope" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/laɪ̯k/ versus /ləʊp/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "like" or "lope"?
"like" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42 in our English list, against #49,466 for "lope". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "like" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lope" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #182,906 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "like" and "lope" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lope vs Lora". 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 #182,906 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list