Which to use
“lousy” and “lusty” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,383
- “lousy” frequency rank
- #37,076
- “lusty” frequency rank
- 56459
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lousy | lusty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Remarkably bad; of poor quality. | Exhibiting lust (in the obsolete sense meaning "vigor"); strong, healthy, robust; vigorous; full of sap or vitality. |
Where the eye mixes lousy and lusty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lousy (CVVCV) and lusty (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between lousy and lusty
A purely visual mix-up. lousy (/ˈlaʊ.zi/) and lusty (/ˈlʌsti/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56459, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lousy is recorded at frequency rank #19,383, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlaʊ.zi/. lusty is at rank #37,076, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlʌsti/.
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 56459, this pair ranks #126,142 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lousy vs lusty
Shared letters: lsuy. Private to "lousy": o. Private to "lusty": t.
"lousy" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "lusty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lousy" for "lusty" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "lousy" or "lusty" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lousy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lusty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #126,142 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lousy" and "lusty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lundy vs lusty". 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 #126,142 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.