LäusevsLupeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Läuse” and “Lupe” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#43,335
“Läuse” frequency rank
#11,092
“Lupe” frequency rank
54427
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Läuse Lupe
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Laus Linse, meist aus Glas, zur optischen Vergrößerung

Where the eye mixes Läuse and Lupe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Läuse
4 ch
Lupe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Läuse ([ˈlɔɪ̯zə]) and Lupe ([ˈluːpə]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54427, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Läuse is recorded at frequency rank #43,335, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯zə]. Lupe is at rank #11,092, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈluːpə].

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 54427, this pair ranks #1,019,342 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Läuse vs Lupe

Shared letters: elu. Private to "Läuse": . Private to "Lupe": p.

"Läuse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "Lupe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lupellupe · lpue · luep · luppe · ulpe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Läuse" and "Lupe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɔɪ̯zə] versus [ˈluːpə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Läuse" or "Lupe"?
"Lupe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,092 in our German list, against #43,335 for "Läuse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Läuse" and "Lupe". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Läuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lupe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,019,342 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Läuse" and "Lupe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Läuse". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list