Which to use
“locks” and “looks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,810
- “locks” frequency rank
- #436
- “looks” frequency rank
- 8246
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | locks | looks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lock | plural of look |
Where the eye mixes locks and looks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between locks and looks
A purely visual mix-up. locks (/lɒks/) and looks (/lʊks/) 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 - c in “locks” becomes o in “looks”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8246, 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/. looks is at rank #436, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lʊks/.
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 8246, this pair ranks #503,451 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of locks vs looks
Shared letters: klos. Private to "locks": c. Private to "looks": -.
"locks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "looks" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "locks" and "looks" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "locks" vs "looks" - 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 "locks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "looks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #503,451 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "locks" and "looks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "locks 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 #503,451 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.