Which to use
“lock” and “lost” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,658
- “lock” frequency rank
- #18,302
- “lost” frequency rank
- 52960
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lock | lost |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cerradura. | Cola de animal. |
Where the eye mixes lock and lost
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lock and lost
A purely visual mix-up. lock (/lɒk/) and lost (/ˈlɔst/) 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 52960, 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/. lost is at rank #18,302, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɔst/.
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 52960, this pair ranks #90,247 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lock vs lost
Shared letters: lo. Private to "lock": ck. Private to "lost": st.
"lock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lost" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lock" and "lost" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "lock" or "lost" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lock" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lost" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #90,247 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lock" and "lost" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lock". 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 #90,247 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.