Which to use
“less” and “lus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,688
- “less” frequency rank
- #12,613
- “lus” frequency rank
- 43301
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | less | lus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Moins, en quantité. | Masculin pluriel de lu. |
Where the eye mixes less and lus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between less and lus
A purely visual mix-up. less (\ˈlɛs\) and lus (\ly\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43301, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
less is recorded at frequency rank #30,688, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈlɛs\. lus is at rank #12,613, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ly\.
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 43301, this pair ranks #219,139 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of less vs lus
Shared letters: ls. Private to "less": e. Private to "lus": u.
"less" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- less ← elss · lless · lses
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "less" and "lus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "less" vs "lus" - which ranks higher?
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 "less" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #219,139 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "less" and "lus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs less". 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 #219,139 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.