Which to use
“loa” is a noun and “loath” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,899
- “loa” frequency rank
- #43,241
- “loath” frequency rank
- 76140
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loa | loath |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In the voodoo religion, a spirit intermediary between Bondye (the creator god) and human beings. | Averse, disinclined; reluctant, unwilling. Always followed by a verbal phrase. |
Where the eye mixes loa and loath
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. loa runs 3 letters (CVV) against loath's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between loa and loath
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: loa is /ˈləʊ̯ə/ while loath is /ləʊθ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “loa” sits inside “loath”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76140, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loa is recorded at frequency rank #32,899, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈləʊ̯ə/. 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 76140, this pair ranks #30,960 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of loa vs loath
Shared letters: alo. Private to "loa": -. Private to "loath": ht.
"loa" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "loath" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- loath ← laoth · lloath · loaht · loathh · loatth · lotah · olath
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "loa" and "loath" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "loa" or "loath" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "loa" 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 #30,960 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loa" 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 #30,960 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.