Which to use
“lu” and “lung” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,273
- “lu” frequency rank
- #6,070
- “lung” frequency rank
- 18343
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lu | lung |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Archaic form of loo (“card game”). | A biological organ of vertebrates that controls breathing and oxygenates the blood. |
Where the eye mixes lu and lung
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lu vs lung
A purely visual mix-up. lu (/luː/) and lung (/ˈlʌŋ/) 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) - “lu” sits inside “lung”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lu is recorded at frequency rank #12,273, classified as anoun, pronounced /luː/. lung is at rank #6,070, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlʌŋ/.
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 18343, this pair ranks #445,501 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lu vs lung
Shared letters: lu. Private to "lu": -. Private to "lung": gn.
"lu" · 2 letters · shape CV · "lung" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lung ← llung · lnug · lugn · lungg · lunng · ulng
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lu" for "lung" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lu" vs "lung" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lung" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #445,501 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lu" and "lung" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "LSC vs lu". 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 #445,501 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.