lochvslookWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“loch” and “look” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#36,033
“loch” frequency rank
#5,474
“look” frequency rank
41507
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature loch look
Definition Plan d’eau, lac, fjord, estuaire, baie ou crique en Écosse ou en Irlande. Aspect, apparence, style, allure.

Where the eye mixes loch and look

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
loch
4 ch
look

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. loch (\lɔk\) and look (\luk\) 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 41507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

loch is recorded at frequency rank #36,033, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɔk\. look is at rank #5,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced \luk\.

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 41507, this pair ranks #232,586 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of loch vs look

Shared letters: lo. Private to "loch": ch. Private to "look": k.

"loch" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "look" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lochlcoh · lloch · locch · lochh · lohc · olch
  • lookllook · lok · loko · lookk · olok

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "loch" and "look" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lɔk\ versus \luk\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "loch" or "look"?
"look" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,474 in our French list, against #36,033 for "loch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list