Which to use
“lame” and “lure” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,523
- “lame” frequency rank
- #48,019
- “lure” frequency rank
- 54542
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lame | lure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Solide aplati, d’épaisseur mince, feuille, tôle, plaque. | Leurre. |
Where the eye mixes lame and lure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lame with lure
A purely visual mix-up. lame (\lam\) and lure (\lʊər\) 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 54542, 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\. lure is at rank #48,019, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lʊər\.
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 54542, this pair ranks #133,313 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lame vs lure
Shared letters: el. Private to "lame": am. Private to "lure": ru.
"lame" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lure" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lame" and "lure" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lame" vs "lure" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lame" and "lure" 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 "lure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,313 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lame" and "lure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lar vs lure". 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 #133,313 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.