Which to use
“loutre” and “lustre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,056
- “loutre” frequency rank
- #21,071
- “lustre” frequency rank
- 53127
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loutre | lustre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espèce de mammifère carnivore de la famille des martres, grand à peu près comme un renard, mais plus bas de pattes, et à tête plate et obtuse, semi-aquatiques, qui vit au bord des rivières. | Époque de la cérémonie du cens qui revenait tous les cinq ans et où l’on aspergeait le peuple romain assemblé avec de l’eau lustrale. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set loutre and lustre apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
loutre and lustre 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 53127, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loutre is recorded at frequency rank #32,056, classified as anoun, pronounced \lutʁ\. lustre is at rank #21,071, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lystʁ\.
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 53127, this pair ranks #142,872 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "loutre" and "lustre" be used interchangeably?
Remembering loutre vs lustre
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 “loutre” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable