LohvsloughWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Loh is a name, lough is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Loh” is a name and “lough” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,164
“Loh” frequency rank
#35,390
“lough” frequency rank
82554
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Loh lough
Definition A surname. A lake or long, narrow inlet, especially in Ireland.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Loh and lough apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
Loh
5 ch
lough

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Loh is aname and loughanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Loh is recorded at frequency rank #47,164, classified as aname. lough is at rank #35,390, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɑx/.

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 82554, this pair ranks #15,531 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Loh vs lough

Shared letters: hlo. Private to "Loh": -. Private to "lough": gu.

"Loh" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lough" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • loughllough · loguh · louggh · loughh · louhg · luogh · olugh

Frequency comparison

Loh#47,164
lough#35,390

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Loh" and "lough" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Loh" is a name and "lough" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Loh" or "lough"?
"lough" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,390 in our English list, against #47,164 for "Loh". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Loh vs lough

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Loh”; for a noun, it's “lough”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Loh” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list