Which to use
“lope” and “lost” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,466
- “lope” frequency rank
- #400
- “lost” frequency rank
- 49866
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lope | lost |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To travel an easy pace with long strides. | simple past and past participle of lose |
Where the eye mixes lope and lost
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lope and lost
A purely visual mix-up. lope (/ləʊp/) and lost (/lɒst/) 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 49866, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lope is recorded at frequency rank #49,466, classified as averb, pronounced /ləʊp/. lost is at rank #400, tagged as averb, pronounced /lɒst/.
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 49866, this pair ranks #179,554 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lope vs lost
Shared letters: lo. Private to "lope": ep. Private to "lost": st.
"lope" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lope" and "lost" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lope" vs "lost" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lope" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lost" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #179,554 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lope" and "lost" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lope vs Lora". 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 #179,554 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.