Which to use
“laissez” is a verb and “lisse” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,319
- “laissez” frequency rank
- #9,188
- “lisse” frequency rank
- 11507
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laissez | lisse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de laisser. | Sans aspérité ni rayure. |
Where the eye mixes laissez and lisse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. laissez runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against lisse's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: laissez vs lisse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: laissez is \lɛ.se\ while lisse is \lis\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laissez is recorded at frequency rank #2,319, classified as averb, pronounced \lɛ.se\. lisse is at rank #9,188, tagged as anadj, pronounced \lis\.
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 11507, this pair ranks #408,884 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of laissez vs lisse
Shared letters: eils. Private to "laissez": az. Private to "lisse": -.
"laissez" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "lisse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laissez" for "lisse" ever safe?
Frequency check: "laissez" vs "lisse" - 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 "laissez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lisse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #408,884 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laissez" and "lisse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leste vs lisse". 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 #408,884 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.