Which to use
“lies” and “lips” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,660
- “lies” frequency rank
- #46,867
- “lips” frequency rank
- 71527
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lies | lips |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de lie. | Pluriel de lip. |
Where the eye mixes lies and lips
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lies (CVVC) and lips (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between lies and lips
A purely visual mix-up. lies (\li\) and lips (\ˈlɪps\) 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 a single letter - e in “lies” becomes p in “lips”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71527, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lies is recorded at frequency rank #24,660, classified as anoun, pronounced \li\. lips is at rank #46,867, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈlɪps\.
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 71527, this pair ranks #47,248 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lies vs lips
Shared letters: ils. Private to "lies": e. Private to "lips": p.
"lies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lips" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lies" for "lips" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lies" or "lips"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lips" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,248 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lies" and "lips" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lips". 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 #47,248 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.