lâchervslancerConfusable pair

Which to use

“lâcher” and “lancer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,689
“lâcher” frequency rank
#1,742
“lancer” frequency rank
6431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lâcher lancer
Definition Détendre, desserrer quelque chose. Jeter en avant avec force, avec raideur, pour atteindre au loin.

Where the eye mixes lâcher and lancer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
lâcher
6 ch
lancer

Look-alike desk: lâcher vs lancer

A purely visual mix-up. lâcher (\lɑ.ʃe\) and lancer (\lɑ̃.se\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lâcher is recorded at frequency rank #4,689, classified as averb, pronounced \lɑ.ʃe\. lancer is at rank #1,742, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɑ̃.se\.

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 6431, this pair ranks #426,232 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lâcher vs lancer

Shared letters: celr. Private to "lâcher": . Private to "lancer": an.

"lâcher" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lancer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lanceralncer · lacner · lanccer · lancerr · lancre · lanecr · lanncer · llancer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lâcher" and "lancer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lɑ.ʃe\ versus \lɑ̃.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lâcher" vs "lancer" - which ranks higher?
"lancer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,742 in our French list, against #4,689 for "lâcher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "lâcher" and "lancer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lâcher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lancer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #426,232 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lâcher" and "lancer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lâcher vs Lacour". 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 #426,232 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list