Which to use
“locks” is a noun and “Loki” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,810
- “locks” frequency rank
- #20,418
- “Loki” frequency rank
- 28228
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | locks | Loki |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lock | The god of mischief and trickery; growing progressively evil, he kills Balder, and is bound until Ragnarok, the end of the world. |
Where the eye mixes locks and Loki
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between locks and Loki
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: locks is /lɒks/ while Loki is /ˈləʊki/. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28228, 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/. Loki is at rank #20,418, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈləʊki/.
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 28228, this pair ranks #372,706 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of locks vs Loki
Shared letters: klo. Private to "locks": cs. Private to "Loki": i.
"locks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "Loki" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "locks" for "Loki" ever safe?
Which is more common, "locks" or "Loki"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "locks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Loki" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #372,706 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "locks" and "Loki" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Loki 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 #372,706 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.