Which to use
“lord” and “lure” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #832
- “lord” frequency rank
- #11,738
- “lure” frequency rank
- 12570
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lord | lure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The master of the servants of a household; (historical) the master of a feudal manor | Something that tempts or attracts, especially one with a promise of reward or pleasure. |
Where the eye mixes lord and lure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lord with lure
A purely visual mix-up. lord (/lɔːd/) and lure (/lʊə/) 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 12570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lord is recorded at frequency rank #832, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɔːd/. lure is at rank #11,738, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lʊə/.
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 12570, this pair ranks #480,788 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lord vs lure
Shared letters: lr. Private to "lord": do. Private to "lure": eu.
"lord" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lure" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lord" and "lure" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "lord" or "lure" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lord" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #480,788 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lord" and "lure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lope vs lure". 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 #480,788 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.