Which to use
“loaf” and “los” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,210
- “loaf” frequency rank
- #1,728
- “los” frequency rank
- 16938
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loaf | los |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A block of bread after baking. | A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx. |
Where the eye mixes loaf and los
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between loaf and los
A purely visual mix-up. loaf (/ləʊf/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16938, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loaf is recorded at frequency rank #15,210, classified as anoun, pronounced /ləʊf/. 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 16938, this pair ranks #454,644 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of loaf vs los
Shared letters: lo. Private to "loaf": af. Private to "los": s.
"loaf" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "los" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- loaf ← laof · lloaf · loaff · lofa
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "loaf" and "los" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "loaf" vs "los" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "loaf" and "los" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "loaf" 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 #454,644 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loaf" and "los" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loaf 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 #454,644 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.