lapsus

\lap.sys\

/\lap.sys\/ noun

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

The verdict

“lapsus” has 9 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #29,842. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,842
frequency rank, French
2,567
“L” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Erreur involontaire qui fait dire à une personne autre chose que ce qu’elle avait prévu d’exprimer.

Corpus desk

Index FR-lapsus · lapsus · French

lapsus · rank #29,842 · 9 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,842
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,567
  • PHOTO-FINISH lampadaire

Nearest frequency peer: lampadaire (-1 rank slots)

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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « lapsus »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « lapsus » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

lapsus vs lupus
67% similar
lapsus vs laps
67% similar
lapsus vs lapins
67% similar

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

Key facts for lapsus
PropertyValue
Headwordlapsus
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\lap.sys\
Letters6
Frequency rank#29,842
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « lapsus »

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).lapsusse place ici:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « lampadaire » (#29,841), « Larcher » (#29,843), « lagon » (#29,840). Parmi 2,567 lemmes en « L », « lapsus » est au #29,842. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around lapsus (IPA \lap.sys\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #29,842 among 2,567 “L” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Erreur involontaire qui fait dire à une personne autre chose que ce qu’elle avait prévu d’exprimer.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for lapsus, with forms such as "alpsus", "lappsus", and "lapssu". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "lupus", "laps", "lapins", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is lapsus, spelled L-A-P-S-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Erreur involontaire qui fait dire à une personne autre chose que ce qu’elle avait prévu d’exprimer.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Nous sommes foudroyés, dit-il. Il voulait dire « fourvoyés », mais c'était là un lapsus léger et que rendaient excusable, d'ailleurs, ces circonstances exceptionnelles.
  2. Un lapsus, une faute de prononciation, le soufflet sur la joue d’un clown, peuvent créer un accès irrésistible avant qu’aucun couple comparatif de concepts ait eu le temps d’intervenir. Le rire a jailli avec la rapidité du réflexe ; il est souvent aussi véloce que le geste d’un instinct élémentaire.

This word in other languages

slip of the tongue(English)lapsus(Español)lapsus(Deutsch)engano(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • alpsus
  • lappsus
  • lapssu
  • lapssus
  • lapsuss
  • lapuss
  • laspus
  • llapsus
  • lpasus

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lapsus - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

alpsus2lappsus1lapssu2lapssus1lapsuss1lapuss2laspus2llapsus1
Edit distance from "lapsus"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lapsus"?
"lapsus" is spelled L-A-P-S-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is \lap.sys\.
What does "lapsus" mean?
As a noun, "lapsus" means: Erreur involontaire qui fait dire à une personne autre chose que ce qu’elle avait prévu d’exprimer.
What words are commonly confused with "lapsus"?
"lapsus" is commonly confused with "lupus", "laps", "lapins". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "lapsus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lapsus" is \lap.sys\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "lapsus" come from?
"lapsus" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

lionne#29,845madone#29,848initie#29,822mâcher#29,876

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Namibie9 variantsnuggets9 variantsorifice9 variantsornent9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list