lisvsluxWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#20,413
“lis” frequency rank
#23,482
“lux” frequency rank
43895
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lis lux
Definition (Iris) Planta de la familia de las irídeas, formada por tallos que miden generalmente entre cinco y seis decímetros de largo, con hojas ensiformes que tienen cerca de la mitad de esa longitud, y que terminan en flores de gran tamaño, con seis pétalos de vivos colores, generalmente morado, azul o blanco. Unidad derivada del Sistema Internacional de Unidades para la iluminancia o nivel de iluminación, equivalente a un lumen por metro cuadrado.

Where the eye mixes lis and lux

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
lis
3 ch
lux

Why the eye confuses lis with lux

A purely visual mix-up. lis ([ˈlis]) and lux ([ˈluks]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43895, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lis is recorded at frequency rank #20,413, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlis]. lux is at rank #23,482, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈluks].

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 43895, this pair ranks #140,078 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lis vs lux

Shared letters: l. Private to "lis": is. Private to "lux": ux.

"lis" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lux" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lis" and "lux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlis] versus [ˈluks]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lis" vs "lux" - which ranks higher?
"lis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,413 in our Spanish list, against #23,482 for "lux". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lis" 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 #140,078 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lis" and "lux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lux". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #140,078 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list