Which to use
“laps” and “lis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,786
- “laps” frequency rank
- #3,147
- “lis” frequency rank
- 21933
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laps | lis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Période de temps. | Genre de liliacées qui porte, sur une haute tige, des fleurs à trois pétales et trois sépales pétaloïdes. |
Where the eye mixes laps and lis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses laps with lis
A purely visual mix-up. laps (\laps\) and lis (\lis\) 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 21933, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laps is recorded at frequency rank #18,786, classified as anoun, pronounced \laps\. lis is at rank #3,147, tagged as anoun, 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 21933, this pair ranks #360,675 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of laps vs lis
Shared letters: ls. Private to "laps": ap. Private to "lis": i.
"laps" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- laps ← alps · lapps · lapss · lasp · llaps · lpas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laps" for "lis" ever safe?
Frequency check: "laps" vs "lis" - 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 "laps" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #360,675 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laps" and "lis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laps vs lep". 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 #360,675 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.