Which to use
“locks” and “locus” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,810
- “locks” frequency rank
- #23,026
- “locus” frequency rank
- 30836
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | locks | locus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lock | A place or locality, especially a centre of activity or the scene of a crime. |
Where the eye mixes locks and locus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between locks and locus
A purely visual mix-up. locks (/lɒks/) and locus (/ˈləʊkəs/) 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 - k in “locks” becomes u in “locus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30836, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
locks is recorded at frequency rank #7,810, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɒks/. locus is at rank #23,026, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈləʊkəs/.
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 30836, this pair ranks #351,204 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of locks vs locus
Shared letters: clos. Private to "locks": k. Private to "locus": u.
"locks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "locus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "locks" and "locus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "locks" vs "locus" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "locks" and "locus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "locks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "locus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #351,204 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "locks" and "locus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lockup vs locus". 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 #351,204 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.