lair

/lɛə/

//lɛə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"lair" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lair” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #21,559) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#21,559
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lair · lair · English

lair · rank #21,559 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #21,559
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH lacy

Nearest frequency peer: lacy (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “lair”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “lair” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

lair vs li
50% similar
lair vs LR
0% similar
lair vs law
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for lair
PropertyValue
Headwordlair
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/lɛə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#21,559
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “lair”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).lairlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “lacy” (#21,558), “Lamborghini” (#21,560), “Koran” (#21,557). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “lair” is #21,559. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for lair is neighbouring look-alikes ("li", "LR", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /lɛə/. Frequency #21,559 among 2,297 “L” headwords. 6 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for lair, with forms such as "alir", "lairr", and "lari". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "li", "LR", "law", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English leir, leire, lair, lare, from Old English leġer (“couch, bed”), from Proto-Germanic *legrą, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-. The correct English form is lair, spelled L-A-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground.
  2. 2
    A shed or shelter for domestic animals.
  3. 3
    A place inhabited by a criminal or criminals, a superhero or a supervillain; a refuge, retreat, haven or hideaway.
  4. 4
    A bed or resting place.
  5. 5
    A grave; a cemetery plot.
  6. 6
    A group where pickup artists meet to discuss and practise seduction techniques.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how lair appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. O dainty dew, O morning dew / That gleamed in the world's first dawn, did you / And the sweet grass and manful oaks / Give lair and rest / To him who toadwise sits and croaks / His death-behest?
  2. “Would you go into the dragon's lair, my peerless Wiglaf?”

Etymology

From Middle English leir, leire, lair, lare, from Old English leġer (“couch, bed”), from Proto-Germanic *legrą, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-.

Synonyms

burrowdenholtdenhide-out

This word in other languages

guarida(Español)antre(Français)Bau(Deutsch)toca(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • alir
  • lairr
  • lari
  • llair

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lair - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

alir2lairr1lari2llair1
Edit distance from "lair"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lair"?
"lair" is spelled L-A-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is /lɛə/.
What does "lair" mean?
As a noun, "lair" means: A place inhabited by a wild animal, often a cave or a hole in the ground.
What words are commonly confused with "lair"?
"lair" is commonly confused with "li", "LR", "law". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "lair"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lair" is /lɛə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "lair"?
From Middle English leir, leire, lair, lare, from Old English leġer (“couch, bed”), from Proto-Germanic *legrą, from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "lair", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lacy#21,558Luka#21,571IMDb#21,544mani#21,577

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list