Which to use
“locus” and “locust” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,026
- “locus” frequency rank
- #28,979
- “locust” frequency rank
- 52005
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | locus | locust |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A place or locality, especially a centre of activity or the scene of a crime. | Any of the grasshoppers, often polyphenic and usually swarming, in the family Acrididae that are very destructive to crops and other vegetation, especially migratory locusts (Locusta migratoria). |
Where the eye mixes locus and locust
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: locus vs locust
A purely visual mix-up. locus (/ˈləʊkəs/) and locust (/ˈləʊ.kəst/) 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 extra letter(s) - “locus” sits inside “locust”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
locus is recorded at frequency rank #23,026, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈləʊkəs/. locust is at rank #28,979, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈləʊ.kəst/.
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 52005, this pair ranks #160,648 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of locus vs locust
Shared letters: closu. Private to "locus": -. Private to "locust": t.
"locus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "locust" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "locus" and "locust" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "locus" or "locust"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "locus" and "locust" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "locus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "locust" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #160,648 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "locus" and "locust" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "locum vs locust". 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 #160,648 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.