lopevsloxWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lope is a verb, lox is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lope” is a verb and “lox” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,466
“lope” frequency rank
#44,312
“lox” frequency rank
93778
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lope lox
Definition To travel an easy pace with long strides. Salmon that is cured in brine and then smoked at a low temperature so that the flesh remains uncooked.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lope and lox apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lope
3 ch
lox

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lope is /ləʊp/ while lox is /lɒks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 93778, 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/. lox is at rank #44,312, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɒks/.

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 93778, this pair ranks #1,715 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lope vs lox

Shared letters: lo. Private to "lope": ep. Private to "lox": x.

"lope" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lox" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lopellope · loep · loppe · lpoe · olpe

Frequency comparison

lope#49,466
lox#44,312

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lope" and "lox" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lope" is a verb and "lox" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lope" or "lox"?
"lox" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #44,312 in our English list, against #49,466 for "lope". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lope vs lox

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “lope”; for a noun, it's “lox”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lope” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list