Which to use
“lav” and “loy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,859
- “lav” frequency rank
- #45,491
- “loy” frequency rank
- 94350
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lav | loy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clipping of lavatory. | A type of one-eared spade used in Ireland. |
Where the eye mixes lav and loy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. lav (CVC) and loy (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: lav vs loy
A purely visual mix-up. lav (/læv/) and loy (/lɔɪ/) 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 94350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lav is recorded at frequency rank #48,859, classified as anoun, pronounced /læv/. loy is at rank #45,491, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɔɪ/.
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 94350, this pair ranks #1,457 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lav vs loy
Shared letters: l. Private to "lav": av. Private to "loy": oy.
"lav" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "loy" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lav" and "loy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lav" vs "loy" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lav" and "loy" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lav" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,457 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lav" and "loy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lav vs LSC". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,457 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.