Which to use
“locus” is a noun and “lus” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,439
- “locus” frequency rank
- #12,613
- “lus” frequency rank
- 55052
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | locus | lus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Emplacement d’un gène sur un chromosome. | Masculin pluriel de lu. |
Where the eye mixes locus and lus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses locus with lus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: locus is \lɔ.kys\ while lus is \ly\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55052, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
locus is recorded at frequency rank #42,439, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɔ.kys\. lus is at rank #12,613, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ly\.
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 55052, this pair ranks #129,965 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of locus vs lus
Shared letters: lsu. Private to "locus": co. Private to "lus": -.
"locus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- locus ← llocus · loccus · locsu · locuss · loucs · olcus
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "locus" for "lus" ever safe?
Frequency check: "locus" vs "lus" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "locus" and "lus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "locus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #129,965 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "locus" and "lus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "locus vs logs". 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 #129,965 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.