Which to use
“lock” is a verb and “loy” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,485
- “lock” frequency rank
- #44,027
- “loy” frequency rank
- 64512
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lock | loy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de locken. | Ancienne variante orthographique de loi. |
Where the eye mixes lock and loy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lock with loy
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lock is \lɔk\ while loy is \lwa\. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64512, 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\. 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 64512, this pair ranks #76,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lock vs loy
Shared letters: lo. Private to "lock": ck. Private to "loy": y.
"lock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "loy" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lock ← lcok · llock · locck · lockk · lokc · olck
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lock" for "loy" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lock" vs "loy" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lock" 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 #76,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lock" and "loy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lobo vs loy". 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 #76,689 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.