Which to use
“los” and “loser” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,728
- “los” frequency rank
- #7,026
- “loser” frequency rank
- 8754
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | los | loser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx. | A person who loses; one who fails to win or thrive. |
Where the eye mixes los and loser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between los and loser
A purely visual mix-up. los (/lɒs/) and loser (/luːzə(ɹ)/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “los” sits inside “loser”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8754, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
los is recorded at frequency rank #1,728, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɒs/. loser is at rank #7,026, tagged as anoun, pronounced /luːzə(ɹ)/.
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 8754, this pair ranks #500,891 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of los vs loser
Shared letters: los. Private to "los": -. Private to "loser": er.
"los" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "loser" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- loser ← lloser · loesr · loserr · losre · losser · lsoer · olser
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "los" for "loser" ever safe?
Frequency check: "los" vs "loser" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "los" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #500,891 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "los" and "loser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lope vs loser". 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 #500,891 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.