Which to use
“lock” is a verb and “lol” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,485
- “lock” frequency rank
- #2,626
- “lol” frequency rank
- 23111
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lock | lol |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de locken. | Formule qui est principalement utilisée à l’écrit (par Internet puis par SMS) et qui indique que son auteur est en train de rire ou est très amusé. |
Where the eye mixes lock and lol
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lock vs lol
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lock is \lɔk\ while lol is \lɔl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23111, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lock is recorded at frequency rank #20,485, classified as averb, pronounced \lɔk\. lol is at rank #2,626, tagged as anintj, pronounced \lɔl\.
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 23111, this pair ranks #354,286 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lock vs lol
Shared letters: lo. Private to "lock": ck. Private to "lol": -.
"lock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lol" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lock ← lcok · llock · locck · lockk · lokc · olck
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lock" and "lol" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lock" or "lol"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "lock" and "lol" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lock" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lol" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #354,286 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lock" and "lol" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lobo vs lock". 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 #354,286 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.