Which to use
“locket” is a noun and “looked” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,714
- “locket” frequency rank
- #811
- “looked” frequency rank
- 34525
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | locket | looked |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A pendant that opens to reveal a space used for storing a photograph or other small item. | simple past and past participle of look |
Where the eye mixes locket and looked
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. locket (CVCCVC) and looked (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses locket with looked
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: locket is /ˈlɒkɪt/ while looked is /lʊkt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
locket is recorded at frequency rank #33,714, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɒkɪt/. looked is at rank #811, tagged as averb, pronounced /lʊkt/.
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 34525, this pair ranks #320,067 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of locket vs looked
Shared letters: eklo. Private to "locket": ct. Private to "looked": d.
"locket" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "looked" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "locket" and "looked" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "locket" or "looked"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "locket" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "looked" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,067 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "locket" and "looked" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "locket vs lockup". 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 #320,067 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.