Which to use
“lobes” and “loches” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,422
- “lobes” frequency rank
- #47,430
- “loches” frequency rank
- 76852
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lobes | loches |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de lobe. | Pluriel de loche. |
Where the eye mixes lobes and loches
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. lobes runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against loches's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses lobes with loches
A purely visual mix-up. lobes (\lɔb\) and loches (\lɔʃ\) 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 76852, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lobes is recorded at frequency rank #29,422, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɔb\. loches is at rank #47,430, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɔʃ\.
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 76852, this pair ranks #30,018 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lobes vs loches
Shared letters: elos. Private to "lobes": b. Private to "loches": ch.
"lobes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "loches" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lobes" and "loches" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "lobes" vs "loches" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lobes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #30,018 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lobes" and "loches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lichens vs loches". 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 #30,018 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.