Which to use
“loom” and “los” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,612
- “loom” frequency rank
- #1,728
- “los” frequency rank
- 20340
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loom | los |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A utensil; tool; a weapon; (usually in compound) an article in general. | A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx. |
Where the eye mixes loom and los
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between loom and los
A purely visual mix-up. loom (/luːm/) and los (/lɒs/) 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 20340, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loom is recorded at frequency rank #18,612, classified as anoun, pronounced /luːm/. los is at rank #1,728, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɒs/.
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 20340, this pair ranks #431,761 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of loom vs los
Shared letters: lo. Private to "loom": m. Private to "los": s.
"loom" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "los" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- loom ← lloom · lom · lomo · loomm · olom
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "loom" and "los" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "loom" or "los"?
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 "loom" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "los" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,761 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loom" and "los" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loom 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 #431,761 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.