lockvsloreTell them apart

Which to use

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

#34,658
“lock” frequency rank
#34,199
“lore” frequency rank
68857
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lock lore
Definition Cerradura. Raigambre (conjunto de antecedentes que dotan de identidad a un asunto).

Where the eye mixes lock and lore

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lock (CVCC) and lore (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
lock
4 ch
lore

Why the eye confuses lock with lore

A purely visual mix-up. lock (/lɒk/) and lore ([ˈloɾe]) 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 68857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lock is recorded at frequency rank #34,658, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɒk/. lore is at rank #34,199, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈloɾe].

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 68857, this pair ranks #33,455 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lock vs lore

Shared letters: lo. Private to "lock": ck. Private to "lore": er.

"lock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lore" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lock ← lcok · llock · locck · lockk · lokc · olck
  • lore ← llore · lorre · lroe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lock" and "lore" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/lɒk/ versus [ˈloɾe]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "lock" or "lore" show up more?
"lore" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,199 in our Spanish list, against #34,658 for "lock". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lock" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lore" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #33,455 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lock" and "lore" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "livre vs lore". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #33,455 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