leivslolTell them apart

Quick tell: lei is a noun, lol is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lei” is a noun and “lol” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,248
“lei” frequency rank
#2,626
“lol” frequency rank
32874
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lei lol
Definition Pluriel de leu. Formule qui est principalement utilisée à l’écrit (par Internet puis par SMS) et qui indique que son auteur est en train de rire ou est très amusé.

Where the eye mixes lei and lol

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
lei
3 ch
lol

Look-alike desk: lei vs lol

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lei is \lɛj\ while lol is \lɔl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32874, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lei is recorded at frequency rank #30,248, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛj\. lol is at rank #2,626, tagged as anintj, pronounced \lɔl\.

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 32874, this pair ranks #294,378 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lei vs lol

Shared letters: l. Private to "lei": ei. Private to "lol": o.

"lei" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "lol" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lei" for "lol" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lei" is a noun and "lol" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lei" or "lol"?
"lol" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,626 in our French list, against #30,248 for "lei". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lol" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #294,378 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lei" and "lol" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lei vs lep". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #294,378 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list