locovsloloWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#972
“loco” frequency rank
#42,546
“lolo” frequency rank
43518
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature loco lolo
Definition Que no está en su sano juicio, que se comporta de forma irracional. Se dice de la persona joven, en la etapa de la maduración sexual, que ya no es niño y aun no es adulto.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set loco and lolo apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
loco
4 ch
lolo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. loco ([ˈloko]) and lolo ([ˈlolo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - c in “loco” becomes l in “lolo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

loco is recorded at frequency rank #972, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈloko]. lolo is at rank #42,546, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlolo].

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 43518, this pair ranks #142,205 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of loco vs lolo

Shared letters: lo. Private to "loco": c. Private to "lolo": -.

"loco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lolo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • locolcoo · lloco · locco · looc · olco
  • lolollolo · lloo · lollo · lool · ollo

Frequency comparison

loco#972
lolo#42,546

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "loco" and "lolo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈloko] versus [ˈlolo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "loco" or "lolo"?
"loco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #972 in our Spanish list, against #42,546 for "lolo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering loco vs lolo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “loco” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list