loudvsluxWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: loud is a adjective, lux is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“loud” is an adjective and “lux” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,841
“loud” frequency rank
#18,878
“lux” frequency rank
21719
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature loud lux
Definition Of great intensity. In the International System of Units, the derived unit of illuminance or illumination; one lumen per square metre. Symbol: lx

Where the eye mixes loud and lux

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
loud
3 ch
lux

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: loud is /laʊd/ while lux is /lʌks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

loud is recorded at frequency rank #2,841, classified as anadj, pronounced /laʊd/. lux is at rank #18,878, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lʌks/.

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 21719, this pair ranks #421,861 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of loud vs lux

Shared letters: lu. Private to "loud": do. Private to "lux": x.

"loud" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "lux" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • loudlloud · lodu · loudd · luod · olud

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "loud" and "lux" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "loud" is an adjective and "lux" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "loud" or "lux"?
"loud" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,841 in our English list, against #18,878 for "lux". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "loud" and "lux". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "loud" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #421,861 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "loud" and "lux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "LSC vs lux". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list