LautvsLustWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#505
“Laut” frequency rank
#1,205
“Lust” frequency rank
1710
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Laut Lust
Definition ein Geräusch Verlangen, Wunsch nach etwas

Where the eye mixes Laut and Lust

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

4 ch
Laut
4 ch
Lust

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Laut ([laʊ̯t]) and Lust ([lʊst]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Laut is recorded at frequency rank #505, classified as anoun, pronounced [laʊ̯t]. Lust is at rank #1,205, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lʊst].

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 1710, this pair ranks #2,003,864 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Laut vs Lust

Shared letters: ltu. Private to "Laut": a. Private to "Lust": s.

"Laut" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Lust" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lautalut · latu · lautt · llaut · luat
  • Lustllust · lsut · lusst · lustt · luts · ulst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Laut" and "Lust" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([laʊ̯t] versus [lʊst]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Laut" or "Lust"?
"Laut" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #505 in our German list, against #1,205 for "Lust". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list