Which to use
“long” is an adjective and “lynx” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #401
- “long” frequency rank
- #23,925
- “lynx” frequency rank
- 24326
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | long | lynx |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qualifie des objets considérés dans leur dimension d’une extrémité à l’autre, par opposition à court. | Une des espèces de félins sauvages ressemblant à un gros chat, dont la face est ornée de favoris et d’oreilles triangulaires surmontées d’une touffe de poil, et le corps doté d’une courte queue et de longues pattes. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set long and lynx apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
long and lynx form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24326, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
long is recorded at frequency rank #401, classified as anadj, pronounced \lɔ̃\. lynx is at rank #23,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛ̃ks\.
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 24326, this pair ranks #347,238 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "long" and "lynx" be used interchangeably?
Remembering long vs lynx
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “long”; for a noun, it's “lynx”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “long” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable