Which to use
“look” and “lose” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #151
- “look” frequency rank
- #879
- “lose” frequency rank
- 1030
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | look | lose |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To try to see, to pay attention to with one’s eyes. | To cease to have (something) in one's possession or capability. |
Where the eye mixes look and lose
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. look (/lʊk/) and lose (/luːz/) 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 1030, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
look is recorded at frequency rank #151, classified as averb, pronounced /lʊk/. lose is at rank #879, tagged as averb, pronounced /luːz/.
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 1030, this pair ranks #528,261 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of look vs lose
Shared letters: lo. Private to "look": k. Private to "lose": es.
"look" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lose" · 4 letters · shape CVCV