Which to use
“lois” and “lys” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,296
- “lois” frequency rank
- #14,079
- “lys” frequency rank
- 15375
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lois | lys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de loi. | Genre de liliacées qui porte, sur une haute tige, des fleurs à trois pétales et trois sépales pétaloïdes. |
Where the eye mixes lois and lys
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lois vs lys
A purely visual mix-up. lois (\lwa\) and lys (\lis\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lois is recorded at frequency rank #1,296, classified as anoun, pronounced \lwa\. lys is at rank #14,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lis\.
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 15375, this pair ranks #392,640 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lois vs lys
Shared letters: ls. Private to "lois": io. Private to "lys": y.
"lois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lys" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lois ← lios · llois · loiss · losi · olis
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lois" and "lys" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lois" or "lys"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lois" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,640 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lois" and "lys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lys". 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 #392,640 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.