Which to use
“laines” and “laisses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,376
- “laines” frequency rank
- #10,184
- “laisses” frequency rank
- 51560
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laines | laisses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de laine. | Pluriel de laisse. |
Where the eye mixes laines and laisses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. laines runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against laisses's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses laines with laisses
A purely visual mix-up. laines (\lɛn\) and laisses (\lɛs\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laines is recorded at frequency rank #41,376, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛn\. laisses is at rank #10,184, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛs\.
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 51560, this pair ranks #154,108 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laines vs laisses
Shared letters: aeils. Private to "laines": n. Private to "laisses": -.
"laines" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "laisses" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "laines" and "laisses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "laines" or "laisses"?
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 "laines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laisses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #154,108 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laines" and "laisses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laines vs linges". 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 #154,108 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.