lure
/lʊə/noun, verb
lure is spelled L-U-R-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “lore vs lure” about 110 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, lure means “Something that tempts or attracts, especially one with a promise of reward or pleasure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lure is lures.
How many letters and syllables are in lure?
| Letters | 4: L-U-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 4.7 times per million words; the 11,685th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is lure?
Lure appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce lure?
- /lʊə/
- /lɔː/
- /ljʊə/
Lure has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-lure.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with lure
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with lure?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as lure.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: rule.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of lure
- lures plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- luring participle, present
- lured participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lure mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Something that tempts or attracts, especially one with a promise of reward or pleasure.
- 2
An artificial bait attached to a fishing line to attract fish.
- 3
A bunch of feathers attached to a line, used in falconry to recall the hawk.
- 4
A velvet smoothing brush.
- 5
Alternative form of lur.
verb
- 1
To attract by temptation, appeal, or guile.
- 2
To attract fish with a lure.
- 3
To recall a hawk with a lure.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lure in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | attrait , leurre , attirer (dans un piège), séduire, leurrer |
| German | Anlockungsmittel, Lockmittel, Lockung, Lockvogel, Lure, Reiz |
| Spanish | cebo, curricán, aliciente |
| Portuguese | isca , atrair |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does lure come from?
From Anglo-Norman lure, from Old French loirre (Modern French leurre), from Frankish *lōþr, from Proto-Germanic *lōþr-, perhaps ultimately related to *laþō (“invitation, calling”), or from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- (“to hide”). Compare English allure, also from Old French. Probably related to German Luder (“bait”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).