Which to use
“late” and “loath” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #456
- “late” frequency rank
- #43,241
- “loath” frequency rank
- 43697
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | late | loath |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Near the end of a period of time. | Averse, disinclined; reluctant, unwilling. Always followed by a verbal phrase. |
Where the eye mixes late and loath
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. late runs 4 letters (CVCV) against loath's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between late and loath
A purely visual mix-up. late (/leɪt/) and loath (/ləʊθ/) 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 43697, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
late is recorded at frequency rank #456, classified as anadj, pronounced /leɪt/. loath is at rank #43,241, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ləʊθ/.
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 43697, this pair ranks #237,491 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of late vs loath
Shared letters: alt. Private to "late": e. Private to "loath": ho.
"late" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "loath" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "late" and "loath" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "late" or "loath"?
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 "late" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loath" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #237,491 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "late" and "loath" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loath vs LSAT". 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
Confusion rank #237,491 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.