locosvslucesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,336
“locos” frequency rank
#2,893
“luces” frequency rank
6229
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature locos luces
Definition Forma del plural de loco. Forma del plural de luz.

Where the eye mixes locos and luces

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
locos
5 ch
luces

Visual trap between locos and luces

A purely visual mix-up. locos ([ˈlokos]) and luces ([ˈluses]) 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 6229, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

locos is recorded at frequency rank #3,336, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlokos]. luces is at rank #2,893, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈluses].

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 6229, this pair ranks #311,383 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of locos vs luces

Shared letters: cls. Private to "locos": o. Private to "luces": eu.

"locos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "luces" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • locoslcoos · llocos · loccos · locoss · locso · loocs · olcos
  • luceslcues · lluces · lucces · lucess · lucse · luecs · luses · ulces

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "locos" for "luces" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlokos] versus [ˈluses]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "locos" vs "luces" - which ranks higher?
"luces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,893 in our Spanish list, against #3,336 for "locos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "locos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "luces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #311,383 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "locos" and "luces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lies vs luces". 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 #311,383 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