LobvsLosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,907
“Lob” frequency rank
#469
“Los” frequency rank
5376
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lob Los
Definition Anerkennung von Leistungen oder Verhaltensweisen durch sprachliche oder körpersprachliche Ausdrucksmittel Schicksal, unbeeinflussbares Geschick

Where the eye mixes Lob and Los

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
Lob
3 ch
Los

Why the eye confuses Lob with Los

A purely visual mix-up. Lob ([loːp]) and Los ([loːs]) 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 - b in “Lob” becomes s in “Los”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5376, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lob is recorded at frequency rank #4,907, classified as anoun, pronounced [loːp]. Los is at rank #469, tagged as anoun, pronounced [loːs].

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 5376, this pair ranks #1,994,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lob vs Los

Shared letters: lo. Private to "Lob": b. Private to "Los": s.

"Lob" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Los" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lob" and "Los" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([loːp] versus [loːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Lob" vs "Los" - which ranks higher?
"Los" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #469 in our German list, against #4,907 for "Lob". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lob" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Los" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,994,950 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lob" and "Los" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lob vs Lori". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,994,950 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list