lapse
/læps/noun, verb
lapse is spelled L-A-P-S-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, lapse means “A temporary failure; a slip” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lapse is lapses.
How many letters and syllables are in lapse?
| Letters | 5: L-A-P-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.1 times per million words; the 15,146th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lapse?
Lapse appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lapse?
- US /læps/
Lapse has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-lapse.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lapse.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with lapse?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as lapse from its last stressed vowel (/æps/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: sepal, lepas, salep.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lapse
- lapses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- lapsing participle, present
- lapsed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lapse mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A temporary failure; a slip.
memory lapse
- 2
A decline or fall in standards.
- 3
A pause in continuity.
- 4
An interval of time between events.
- 5
A termination of a right etc., through disuse or neglect.
- 6
A marked decrease in air temperature with increasing altitude because the ground is warmer than the surrounding air.
- 7
A common-law rule that if the person to whom property is willed were to die before the testator, then the gift would be ineffective.
- 8
A fall or apostasy.
verb
- 1
To fall away gradually; to subside.
- 2
To fall into error or heresy.
- 3
To slip into a bad habit that one is trying to avoid.
- 4
To become void.
- 5
To fall or pass from one proprietor to another, or from the original destination, by the omission, negligence, or failure of somebody, such as a patron or legatee.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lapse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | erreur, faute |
| German | Entgleisung, Ausrutscher , Verfallen, Erlöschen, Verfall |
| Portuguese | lapso , prescrição |
| Spanish | desliz, lapsus , prescripción , lapso , incidir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lapse come from?
From Middle French laps, from Latin lāpsus, from lābī (“to slip”). Doublet of lapsus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).