Which to use
“lips” is a noun and “list” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,867
- “lips” frequency rank
- #14,077
- “list” frequency rank
- 60944
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lips | list |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de lip. | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de listen. |
Where the eye mixes lips and list
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lips with list
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lips is \ˈlɪps\ while list is \lɪst\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lips is recorded at frequency rank #46,867, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈlɪps\. list is at rank #14,077, tagged as averb, pronounced \lɪst\.
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 60944, this pair ranks #94,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lips vs list
Shared letters: ils. Private to "lips": p. Private to "list": t.
"lips" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "list" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lips" for "list" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "lips" or "list" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lips" and "list" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lips" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "list" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #94,927 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lips" and "list" 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 #94,927 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.