Which to use
“laïques” and “lyriques” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,989
- “laïques” frequency rank
- #25,390
- “lyriques” frequency rank
- 47379
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laïques | lyriques |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de laïc. | Pluriel de lyrique. |
Where the eye mixes laïques and lyriques
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. laïques runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against lyriques's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between laïques and lyriques
A purely visual mix-up. laïques (\la.ik\) and lyriques (\li.ʁik\) 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 47379, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laïques is recorded at frequency rank #21,989, classified as anadj, pronounced \la.ik\. lyriques is at rank #25,390, tagged as anadj, pronounced \li.ʁik\.
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 47379, this pair ranks #187,445 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laïques vs lyriques
Shared letters: elqsu. Private to "laïques": aï. Private to "lyriques": iry.
"laïques" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "lyriques" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lyriques ← llyriques · lryiques · lyirques · lyriqeus · lyriqques · lyriquess · lyriquse · lyriuqes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laïques" for "lyriques" ever safe?
Frequency check: "laïques" vs "lyriques" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "laïques" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lyriques" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #187,445 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laïques" and "lyriques" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laïques vs Lucques". 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 #187,445 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.