Which to use
“like” is a verb and “lyre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42
- “like” frequency rank
- #46,595
- “lyre” frequency rank
- 46637
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | like | lyre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of. | An ancient stringed musical instrument (a yoke lute chordophone) of Greek origin, consisting of two arms extending from a body to a crossbar (a yoke), and strings, parallel to the soundboard, connecting the body to the yoke. |
Where the eye mixes like and lyre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: like vs lyre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: like is /laɪ̯k/ while lyre is /ˈlaɪ.ə/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
like is recorded at frequency rank #42, classified as averb, pronounced /laɪ̯k/. lyre is at rank #46,595, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlaɪ.ə/.
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 46637, this pair ranks #209,863 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of like vs lyre
Shared letters: el. Private to "like": ik. Private to "lyre": ry.
"like" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lyre" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "like" and "lyre" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "like" or "lyre" show up more?
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 "like" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lyre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #209,863 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "like" and "lyre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lope vs lyre". 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 #209,863 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.