loco
/ˈləʊ.kəʊ/
"loco" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“loco” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,141 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #22,141
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A direction in written or printed music to be returning to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher or lower.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | loco |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈləʊ.kəʊ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #22,141 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “loco” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for loco is 4 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈləʊ.kəʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,141 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A direction in written or printed music to be returning to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher or lower.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for loco, with forms such as "lcoo", "lloco", and "locco". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "lot", "low", "lol", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Italian. The correct English form is loco, spelled L-O-C-O.
Definition
- 1A direction in written or printed music to be returning to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher or lower.
Etymology
From Italian.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: lcoo,lloco,locco,looc,olco
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of loco - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "loco"?
What does "loco" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "loco"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “loco”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-O-C-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈləʊ.kəʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “lot” - see the side-by-side comparison. loco vs lot
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.