Which to use
“lew” and “loy” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,118
- “lew” frequency rank
- #44,027
- “loy” frequency rank
- 75145
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lew | loy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lion. | Ancienne variante orthographique de loi. |
Where the eye mixes lew and loy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lew vs loy
A purely visual mix-up. lew (\lɛf\) and loy (\lwa\) 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 75145, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lew is recorded at frequency rank #31,118, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛf\. loy is at rank #44,027, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lwa\.
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 75145, this pair ranks #35,006 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lew vs loy
Shared letters: l. Private to "lew": ew. Private to "loy": oy.
"lew" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "loy" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lew" for "loy" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "lew" or "loy" show up more?
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 "lew" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #35,006 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lew" and "loy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lobo vs loy". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #35,006 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.