Which to use
“lire” and “lyre” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,310
- “lire” frequency rank
- #46,595
- “lyre” frequency rank
- 79905
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lire | lyre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Flesh, brawn, or muscle; the fleshy part of a person or animal in contradistinction to the bone and skin. | 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 spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lire and lyre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
lire and lyre are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - i in “lire” becomes y in “lyre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79905, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lire is recorded at frequency rank #33,310, classified as anoun. 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 79905, this pair ranks #21,013 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lire vs lyre
Shared letters: elr. Private to "lire": i. Private to "lyre": y.
"lire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lyre" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lire" and "lyre" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lire" or "lyre"?
Remembering lire vs lyre
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lire” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable