Which to use
“lice” and “lis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,965
- “lice” frequency rank
- #3,147
- “lis” frequency rank
- 18112
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lice | lis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Palissade, en particulier celle qui délimite le champ clos préparé pour les jeux et exercices équestres, les joutes, tournois, etc. | Genre de liliacées qui porte, sur une haute tige, des fleurs à trois pétales et trois sépales pétaloïdes. |
Same sound, different letters: lice vs lis
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Homophone desk: lice vs lis
This is the hard kind. lice and lis are pronounced identically (\lis\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18112, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lice is recorded at frequency rank #14,965, classified as anoun, pronounced \lis\. 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 18112, this pair ranks #379,934 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lice vs lis
Shared letters: il. Private to "lice": ce. Private to "lis": s.
"lice" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lis" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lice ← ilce · lcie · licce · liec · llice
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lice" and "lis" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lice" vs "lis" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "lice" / "lis". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "lice" 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 #379,934 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lice" and "lis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lice vs liker". 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 #379,934 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.