lexvslisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“lex” and “lis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#19,582
“lex” frequency rank
#3,147
“lis” frequency rank
22729
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lex lis
Definition Loi écrite. Genre de liliacées qui porte, sur une haute tige, des fleurs à trois pétales et trois sépales pétaloïdes.

Letter map: lex vs lis

Shared letters muted; letters that set lex and lis apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
lex
3 ch
lis

Spelling & dictionary notes on lex vs lis

lex and lis are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lex is recorded at frequency rank #19,582, classified as anoun. 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 22729, this pair ranks #356,463 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lex vs lis

Shared letters: l. Private to "lex": ex. Private to "lis": is.

"lex" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lex" for "lis" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "lex" vs "lis" - which ranks higher?
"lis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,147 in our French list, against #19,582 for "lex". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "lex" and "lis".

  • Full dictionary entry for "lex" 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 #356,463 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lex" and "lis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lex". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #356,463 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