locovsloosWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,272
“loco” frequency rank
#46,271
“loos” frequency rank
70543
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature loco loos
Definition Locomotive. Pluriel de loo.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set loco and loos apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
loco
4 ch
loos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. loco (\lo.ko\) and loos (\luz\) 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 70543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

loco is recorded at frequency rank #24,272, classified as anoun, pronounced \lo.ko\. loos is at rank #46,271, tagged as anoun, pronounced \luz\.

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 70543, this pair ranks #50,920 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of loco vs loos

Shared letters: lo. Private to "loco": c. Private to "loos": s.

"loco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "loos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • locolcoo · lloco · locco · looc · olco
  • looslloos · looss · loso · olos

Frequency comparison

loco#24,272
loos#46,271

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "loco" and "loos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lo.ko\ versus \luz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "loco" or "loos"?
"loco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,272 in our French list, against #46,271 for "loos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering loco vs loos

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “loco” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list