lisservslisterWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#27,507
“lisser” frequency rank
#23,924
“lister” frequency rank
51431
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lisser lister
Definition Rendre lisse. Mettre sous forme de liste.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lisser and lister apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
lisser
6 ch
lister

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lisser (\li.se\) and lister (\lis.te\) 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 - s in “lisser” becomes t in “lister”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51431, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lisser is recorded at frequency rank #27,507, classified as averb, pronounced \li.se\. lister is at rank #23,924, tagged as averb, pronounced \lis.te\.

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 51431, this pair ranks #155,046 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lisser vs lister

Shared letters: eilrs. Private to "lisser": -. Private to "lister": t.

"lisser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lister" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lisserilsser · liser · lisesr · lisserr · lissre · llisser · lsiser
  • listerilster · lisetr · lisster · listerr · listre · listter · litser · llister

Frequency comparison

lisser#27,507
lister#23,924

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lisser" and "lister" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\li.se\ versus \lis.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lisser" or "lister"?
"lister" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,924 in our French list, against #27,507 for "lisser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lisser vs lister

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lisser” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list