Which to use
“loco” is an adjective and “luto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #972
- “loco” frequency rank
- #11,444
- “luto” frequency rank
- 12416
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loco | luto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que no está en su sano juicio, que se comporta de forma irracional. | Expresión de pena por la muerte de una persona, se manifiesta en la ropa y accesorios de color negro, así como en adornos que se colocan en el lugar donde vivía o donde se vela el difunto. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set loco and luto apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
loco and luto form a confusable pair in the Spanish index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12416, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loco is recorded at frequency rank #972, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈloko]. luto is at rank #11,444, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlut̪o].
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 12416, this pair ranks #291,640 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "loco" and "luto" be used interchangeably?
Remembering loco vs luto
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “loco”; for a noun, it's “luto”.
- 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