Which to use
“load” and “lord” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,587
- “load” frequency rank
- #832
- “lord” frequency rank
- 3419
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | load | lord |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A burden; a weight to be carried. | The master of the servants of a household; (historical) the master of a feudal manor |
Where the eye mixes load and lord
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. load (CVVC) and lord (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: load vs lord
A purely visual mix-up. load (/loʊd/) and lord (/lɔːd/) 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 “load” becomes r in “lord”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3419, 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/. lord is at rank #832, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɔːd/.
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 3419, this pair ranks #522,163 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of load vs lord
Shared letters: dlo. Private to "load": a. Private to "lord": r.
"load" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lord" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "load" and "lord" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "load" vs "lord" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "load" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lord" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #522,163 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "load" and "lord" 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 #522,163 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.