Which to use
“loco” is an adjective and “locus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #972
- “loco” frequency rank
- #46,043
- “locus” frequency rank
- 47015
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loco | locus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que no está en su sano juicio, que se comporta de forma irracional. | posición fija en un cromosoma, que determina la posición de un gen o de un marcador genético. |
Where the eye mixes loco and locus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. loco runs 4 letters (CVCV) against locus's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: loco vs locus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: loco is [ˈloko] while locus is [ˈlokus]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loco is recorded at frequency rank #972, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈloko]. locus is at rank #46,043, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlokus].
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 47015, this pair ranks #122,459 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of loco vs locus
Shared letters: clo. Private to "loco": -. Private to "locus": su.
"loco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "locus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "loco" and "locus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "loco" or "locus" show up more?
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 "loco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "locus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #122,459 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loco" and "locus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "locus vs lodos". 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 #122,459 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.