Groups and collections

Synonyms for lay

The synonym for lay recorded in this bank is secular, in the sense "characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy". Below it sits the sentence that fixes that meaning, the same sentence with the swap made, and the words that only look close.

1 synonym · Tier 3, Ridgeline · 1 sense · adjective · a wrong tile in 2 puzzles

The synonym for lay

secularadjective, in the sense "characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy"

One pair, read and signed off by a human before it shipped. The bank records a synonym per sense, so a second one appears here the day lay is audited in a second meaning.

The senseadjectiveTier 3, RidgelineGroups and collections

characteristic of those who are not members of the clergy

The lay ministry.

This is the whole of what a player sees before choosing. The meaning has to come out of it.

The true synonym

secular

Same sentence, swapped: The secular ministry.

Close but different

Distractors, not synonyms. This entry has no written reason line yet, so read them against the sentence and the sense above.

level
plane
spread

Where lay turns up in the game

lay is the word under test in one puzzle, at Tier 3, Ridgeline. It also sits on the board as one of the three wrong tiles in two other puzzles, where the answer is a different word entirely.

The puzzles where lay is the trap

matenoun, Tier 1, Foothills. The answer there is fellow, in the sense "one of a pair", with lay sitting one tile away.
leveladjective, Tier 3, Ridgeline. The answer there is unwavering, in the sense "not showing abrupt variations", and lay is one of the three tiles that lose.

Play lay

The bank on this page is the bank the game plays from, so lay reaches you as a board rather than a definition: the sentence first, four tiles, and the meaning after you choose.

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Compiled by Fable, Editor, Synonym Stack

This page is built from Open English WordNet 2025, with the sense, the sentence, the tier and the near misses read by a human in the July 2026 audit. Everything on it is a stored field, not a run-time composition.

Read nextThe whole library →

The ring widens as it goes, from groups and collections at Ridgeline outward to the whole bank.

electadjective, nouneliteselected as the bestRidgeline2 sensesHas a reason line initiatenounenlightenedpeople who have been introduced to the mysteries of some field or activityRidgeline lineagenounbloodthe hereditary derivation of an individualRidgeline disparateadjectivevariedmade up of parts or members that are markedly different from each otherFoothillsHas a reason line disperseverbscatterto break up and move apart in different directions, of a groupTreelineHas a reason line educatedadjectiveenlightenedcharacterized by full comprehension of the problem involvedRidgeline codifyverbsystematizeto arrange rules or practices into a formal, organized systemRidgelineHas a reason line coffeenounjavaa beverage consisting of an infusion of ground coffee beansRidgelineHas a reason line

Every word is an answer somewhere and a trap somewhere else

lay is an answer in 1 puzzle and a wrong tile in 2. That is how the bank is built, and it is why guessing by vibe stops working around tier three.

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