Which to use
“louse” and “lute” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,167
- “louse” frequency rank
- #34,168
- “lute” frequency rank
- 81335
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | louse | lute |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small parasitic wingless insect of the order Psocodea. | A fretted stringed instrument, similar to the guitar, having a bowl-shaped body or soundbox; any of a wide variety of chordophones with a pear-shaped body and a neck whose upper surface is in the same plane as the soundboard, with strings along the neck and parallel to the soundboard. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set louse and lute apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. louse (/laʊs/) and lute (/l(j)uːt/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81335, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
louse is recorded at frequency rank #47,167, classified as anoun, pronounced /laʊs/. lute is at rank #34,168, tagged as anoun, pronounced /l(j)uːt/.
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 81335, this pair ranks #17,864 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of louse vs lute
Shared letters: elu. Private to "louse": os. Private to "lute": t.
"louse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "lute" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "louse" and "lute" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "louse" or "lute"?
Remembering louse vs lute
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “louse” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable