Which to use
“lis” and “lisle” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,822
- “lis” frequency rank
- #46,029
- “lisle” frequency rank
- 71851
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lis | lisle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clipping of fleur-de-lis. | A type of strong cotton thread, or a cloth woven from such thread. |
Letter map: lis vs lisle
Shared letters muted; letters that set lis and lisle apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Corpus notes: lis and lisle
lis and lisle 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 2 extra letter(s) - “lis” sits inside “lisle”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71851, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lis is recorded at frequency rank #25,822, classified as anoun. lisle is at rank #46,029, tagged as anoun, pronounced /laɪl/.
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 71851, this pair ranks #45,130 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lis vs lisle
Shared letters: ils. Private to "lis": -. Private to "lisle": e.
"lis" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lisle" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lisle ← ilsle · lilse · lisel · lislle · lissle · llisle · lsile
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lis" for "lisle" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lis" or "lisle"?
Useful next steps
Pair "lis" vs "lisle" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "lis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lisle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #45,130 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lis" and "lisle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ladle vs lisle". 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 #45,130 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.