Which to use
“lung” and “lunge” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,070
- “lung” frequency rank
- #34,970
- “lunge” frequency rank
- 41040
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lung | lunge |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A biological organ of vertebrates that controls breathing and oxygenates the blood. | A sudden forward movement, especially with a sword. |
Where the eye mixes lung and lunge
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lung vs lunge
A purely visual mix-up. lung (/ˈlʌŋ/) and lunge (/lʌnd͡ʒ/) 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 extra letter(s) - “lung” sits inside “lunge”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lung is recorded at frequency rank #6,070, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlʌŋ/. lunge is at rank #34,970, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lʌnd͡ʒ/.
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 41040, this pair ranks #262,056 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lung vs lunge
Shared letters: glnu. Private to "lung": -. Private to "lunge": e.
"lung" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lunge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lung" and "lunge" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lung" or "lunge"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lung" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lunge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #262,056 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lung" and "lunge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lunge vs lunged". 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 #262,056 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.