Which to use
“ley” and “los” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,720
- “ley” frequency rank
- #1,728
- “los” frequency rank
- 31448
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ley | los |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Arable land used temporarily for hay or grazing. | A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx. |
Where the eye mixes ley and los
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ley with los
A purely visual mix-up. ley (/leɪ/) and los (/lɒs/) 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 31448, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ley is recorded at frequency rank #29,720, classified as anoun, pronounced /leɪ/. los is at rank #1,728, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɒs/.
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 31448, this pair ranks #346,034 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ley vs los
Shared letters: l. Private to "ley": ey. Private to "los": os.
"ley" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "los" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ley" for "los" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "ley" or "los" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ley" and "los" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ley" 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 #346,034 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ley" and "los" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ley vs LSC". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #346,034 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.