Which to use
“load” is a noun and “local” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,587
- “load” frequency rank
- #358
- “local” frequency rank
- 2945
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | load | local |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A burden; a weight to be carried. | From or in a nearby location. |
Where the eye mixes load and local
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: load vs local
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: load is /loʊd/ while local is /ˈləʊ.kl̩/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
load is recorded at frequency rank #2,587, classified as anoun, pronounced /loʊd/. local is at rank #358, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈləʊ.kl̩/.
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 2945, this pair ranks #523,576 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of load vs local
Shared letters: alo. Private to "load": d. Private to "local": c.
"load" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "local" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "load" for "local" ever safe?
Which is more common, "load" or "local"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "load" and "local" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "load" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "local" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #523,576 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "load" and "local" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "load vs lope". 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 #523,576 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.