Lore or lure?
lore is a noun meaning “All the facts and traditions about a particular subject that have been…”; lure is a noun meaning “Something that tempts or attracts, especially one with a promise of reward or…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) lure is about as common as lore.
What is the difference between lore and lure?
| lore | lure | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun, verb |
| Meaning | All the facts and traditions about a particular subject that have been accumulated over time through education or experience The region between the eyes and nostrils of birds, reptiles, and amphibians The anterior portion of the cheeks of insects | Something that tempts or attracts, especially one with a promise of reward or pleasure An artificial bait attached to a fishing line to attract fish To attract by temptation, appeal, or guile |
| Example | the recondite lore of the Ancient Egyptians | none recorded |
| Forms | lores | lures |
| Pronunciation | /lɔː/ /loɹ/ /lo(ː)ɹ/ | /lʊə/ /lɔː/ /ljʊə/ |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words | 4.7 times per million words |
Sources: lore and lure in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of lore and lure
lore
- 1
All the facts and traditions about a particular subject that have been accumulated over time through education or experience
the recondite lore of the Ancient Egyptians
- 2
The region between the eyes and nostrils of birds, reptiles, and amphibians
- 3
slangThe backstory, especially for a character or setting, created around a fictional universe
Lore documents reveal that she was backstabbed by her subordinate, who wanted to become king, and she feels vengeful about it
- 4
The anterior portion of the cheeks of insects
- 5
slangTrivia shared by a person about themselves
It's Ashot lore that I used to have a priv where I posted pictures of weird animals I found on the street
lure
- 1
Something that tempts or attracts, especially one with a promise of reward or pleasure
- 2
To attract by temptation, appeal, or guile
- 3
Alternative form of lur
- 4
An artificial bait attached to a fishing line to attract fish
- 5
To attract fish with a lure
- 6
A bunch of feathers attached to a line, used in falconry to recall the hawk
- 7
To recall a hawk with a lure
- 8
A velvet smoothing brush
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, lore or lure?
lore appears 3.5 times per million words; lure 4.7 times per million words.
lore 3.5 times per million wordslure 4.7 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search lore vs lure?
“lore vs lure” is searched about 110 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“lure vs lore”, “lore or lure”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.