Which to use
“lode” and “loo” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,231
- “lode” frequency rank
- #19,636
- “loo” frequency rank
- 60867
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lode | loo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A way or path; a road. | A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation. |
Where the eye mixes lode and loo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lode and loo
A purely visual mix-up. lode (/ləʊd/) and loo (/luː/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60867, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lode is recorded at frequency rank #41,231, classified as anoun, pronounced /ləʊd/. loo is at rank #19,636, tagged as anoun, pronounced /luː/.
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 60867, this pair ranks #97,650 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lode vs loo
Shared letters: lo. Private to "lode": de. Private to "loo": -.
"lode" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "loo" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lode ← ldoe · llode · lodde
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lode" and "loo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "lode" or "loo" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lode" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #97,650 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lode" and "loo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lode 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 #97,650 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.