Which to use
“lofty” and “lousy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,611
- “lofty” frequency rank
- #19,383
- “lousy” frequency rank
- 37994
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lofty | lousy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | High, tall, having great height or stature. | Remarkably bad; of poor quality. |
Where the eye mixes lofty and lousy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lofty vs lousy
A purely visual mix-up. lofty (/ˈlɒfti/) and lousy (/ˈlaʊ.zi/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37994, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lofty is recorded at frequency rank #18,611, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlɒfti/. lousy is at rank #19,383, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlaʊ.zi/.
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 37994, this pair ranks #289,750 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lofty vs lousy
Shared letters: loy. Private to "lofty": ft. Private to "lousy": su.
"lofty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "lousy" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lofty" and "lousy" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lofty" vs "lousy" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lofty" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lousy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,750 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lofty" and "lousy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "louse vs lousy". 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 #289,750 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.