Which to use
“lottery” is a noun and “lowery” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,154
- “lottery” frequency rank
- #42,753
- “lowery” frequency rank
- 49907
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lottery | lowery |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance, especially a gaming scheme in which one or more tickets bearing particular numbers draw prizes, the other tickets are blanks. | Dark and gloomy; threatening; lowering. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lottery and lowery apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
lottery and lowery form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lottery is recorded at frequency rank #7,154, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɒtəɹi/. lowery is at rank #42,753, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlaʊəɹi/.
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 49907, this pair ranks #179,178 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lottery" and "lowery" be used interchangeably?
Remembering lottery vs lowery
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lottery”; for an adjective, it's “lowery”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lottery” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable