Which to use
“lore” is a noun and “lost” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,950
- “lore” frequency rank
- #400
- “lost” frequency rank
- 14350
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lore | lost |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | All the facts and traditions about a particular subject that have been accumulated over time through education or experience. | simple past and past participle of lose |
Where the eye mixes lore and lost
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lore with lost
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lore is /lɔː/ while lost is /lɒst/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14350, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lore is recorded at frequency rank #13,950, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɔː/. 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 14350, this pair ranks #470,561 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lore vs lost
Shared letters: lo. Private to "lore": er. Private to "lost": st.
"lore" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lore" for "lost" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "lore" or "lost" 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 "lore" 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 #470,561 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lore" and "lost" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lope vs lore". 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 #470,561 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.