lustrovslutoTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,548
“lustro” frequency rank
#11,444
“luto” frequency rank
53992
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lustro luto
Definition Espacio de tiempo de cinco años. 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 eye mixes lustro and luto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lustro runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against luto's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
lustro
4 ch
luto

Visual trap between lustro and luto

A purely visual mix-up. lustro ([ˈlust̪ɾo]) and luto ([ˈlut̪o]) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53992, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lustro is recorded at frequency rank #42,548, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlust̪ɾo]. 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 53992, this pair ranks #85,301 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lustro vs luto

Shared letters: lotu. Private to "lustro": rs. Private to "luto": -.

"lustro" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "luto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lustro ← llustro · lsutro · lusrto · lusstro · lustor · lustrro · lusttro · lutsro
  • luto ← lluto · ltuo · luot · lutto · ulto

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lustro" and "luto" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlust̪ɾo] versus [ˈlut̪o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lustro" vs "luto" - which ranks higher?
"luto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,444 in our Spanish list, against #42,548 for "lustro". 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 "lustro" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "luto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #85,301 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lustro" and "luto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lustro vs lustros". 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 #85,301 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