Which to use
“lame” is a noun and “lue” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,523
- “lame” frequency rank
- #16,669
- “lue” frequency rank
- 23192
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lame | lue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Solide aplati, d’épaisseur mince, feuille, tôle, plaque. | Féminin singulier de lu. |
Where the eye mixes lame and lue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lame and lue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lame is \lam\ while lue is \ly\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23192, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lame is recorded at frequency rank #6,523, classified as anoun, pronounced \lam\. lue is at rank #16,669, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ly\.
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 23192, this pair ranks #353,851 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lame vs lue
Shared letters: el. Private to "lame": am. Private to "lue": u.
"lame" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lue" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lame ← alme · laem · lamme · llame · lmae
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lame" and "lue" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lame" vs "lue" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lame" and "lue" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lame" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #353,851 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lame" and "lue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lue". 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 #353,851 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.