Which to use
“loa” and “los” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,899
- “loa” frequency rank
- #1,728
- “los” frequency rank
- 34627
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loa | los |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In the voodoo religion, a spirit intermediary between Bondye (the creator god) and human beings. | A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx. |
Where the eye mixes loa and los
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: loa vs los
A purely visual mix-up. loa (/ˈləʊ̯ə/) 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 differ by a single letter - a in “loa” becomes s in “los”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34627, 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/. 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 34627, this pair ranks #319,144 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of loa vs los
Shared letters: lo. Private to "loa": a. Private to "los": s.
"loa" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "los" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "loa" and "los" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "loa" or "los" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "loa" 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 #319,144 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loa" and "los" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loa vs LSC". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #319,144 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.