Which to use
“lathe” is a verb and “loathed” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,475
- “lathe” frequency rank
- #40,782
- “loathed” frequency rank
- 73257
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lathe | loathed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To invite; bid; ask. | Nonstandard form of loath. |
Letter map: lathe vs loathed
Shared letters muted; letters that set lathe and loathed apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. lathe runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against loathed's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: lathe vs loathed
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lathe is averb and loathedanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73257, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lathe is recorded at frequency rank #32,475, classified as averb, pronounced /leɪð/. loathed is at rank #40,782, tagged as anadj.
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 73257, this pair ranks #40,228 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lathe vs loathed
Shared letters: aehlt. Private to "lathe": -. Private to "loathed": do.
"lathe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "loathed" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lathe" for "loathed" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lathe" vs "loathed" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "lathe" and "loathed". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "lathe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loathed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,228 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lathe" and "loathed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loath vs loathed". 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 #40,228 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.