Which to use
“laisse” and “laitue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #555
- “laisse” frequency rank
- #32,462
- “laitue” frequency rank
- 33017
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laisse | laitue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Corde ou lanière dont on se sert pour mener un chien seul ou des chiens attachés ensemble. | Nom usuel donné à la plupart des plantes du genre Lactuca, de la famille des Asteraceae (Astéracées), produisant du latex, et dont certaines espèces sont cultivées comme plantes potagères. |
Where the eye mixes laisse and laitue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses laisse with laitue
A purely visual mix-up. laisse (\lɛs\) and laitue (\lɛ.ty\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33017, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laisse is recorded at frequency rank #555, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛs\. laitue is at rank #32,462, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛ.ty\.
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 33017, this pair ranks #293,421 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laisse vs laitue
Shared letters: aeil. Private to "laisse": s. Private to "laitue": tu.
"laisse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "laitue" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laisse" for "laitue" ever safe?
Frequency check: "laisse" vs "laitue" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "laisse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laitue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #293,421 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laisse" and "laitue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lafitte vs laitue". 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 #293,421 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.