lumvslutzWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“lum” and “lutz” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#47,736
“lum” frequency rank
#29,727
“lutz” frequency rank
77463
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lum lutz
Definition A chimney; also, the top part of a chimney. A jump in which the skater takes off from the back outside edge of one skate, rotates counterclockwise and lands on the back outside edge of the other skate.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lum and lutz apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
lum
4 ch
lutz

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lum (/lʌm/) and lutz (/lʌts/) 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 77463, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lum is recorded at frequency rank #47,736, classified as anoun, pronounced /lʌm/. lutz is at rank #29,727, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lʌts/.

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 77463, this pair ranks #27,180 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lum vs lutz

Shared letters: lu. Private to "lum": m. Private to "lutz": tz.

"lum" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lutz" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lutzllutz · ltuz · luttz · lutzz · luzt · ultz

Frequency comparison

lum#47,736
lutz#29,727

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lum" and "lutz" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/lʌm/ versus /lʌts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lum" or "lutz"?
"lutz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,727 in our English list, against #47,736 for "lum". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lum vs lutz

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 “lum” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list