Which to use
“likes” and “lilies” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,907
- “likes” frequency rank
- #23,891
- “lilies” frequency rank
- 25798
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | likes | lilies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of like | plural of lily |
Where the eye mixes likes and lilies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. likes runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against lilies's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses likes with lilies
A purely visual mix-up. likes (/laɪks/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25798, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
likes is recorded at frequency rank #1,907, classified as anoun, pronounced /laɪks/. 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 25798, this pair ranks #391,528 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of likes vs lilies
Shared letters: eils. Private to "likes": k. Private to "lilies": -.
"likes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lilies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "likes" and "lilies" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "likes" or "lilies" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "likes" 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 #391,528 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "likes" 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 #391,528 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.