luvvsluxWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,830
“luv” frequency rank
#18,878
“lux” frequency rank
44708
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature luv lux
Definition Deliberate misspelling of love. In the International System of Units, the derived unit of illuminance or illumination; one lumen per square metre. Symbol: lx

Where the eye mixes luv and lux

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

3 ch
luv
3 ch
lux

Look-alike desk: luv vs lux

A purely visual mix-up. luv (/lʌv/) and lux (/lʌks/) 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 a single letter - v in “luv” becomes x in “lux”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44708, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

luv is recorded at frequency rank #25,830, classified as anoun, pronounced /lʌv/. 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 44708, this pair ranks #228,087 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of luv vs lux

Shared letters: lu. Private to "luv": v. Private to "lux": x.

"luv" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lux" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "luv" and "lux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/lʌv/ versus /lʌks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "luv" vs "lux" - which ranks higher?
"lux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,878 in our English list, against #25,830 for "luv". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "luv" 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 #228,087 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "luv" and "lux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "LSC vs luv". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #228,087 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list