loutresvslustresWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#45,716
“loutres” frequency rank
#19,338
“lustres” frequency rank
65054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature loutres lustres
Definition Pluriel de loutre. Pluriel de lustre.

Where the eye mixes loutres and lustres

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. loutres (CVVCCVC) and lustres (CVCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
loutres
7 ch
lustres

Look-alike desk: loutres vs lustres

A purely visual mix-up. loutres (\lutʁ\) and lustres (\lystʁ\) 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 65054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

loutres is recorded at frequency rank #45,716, classified as anoun, pronounced \lutʁ\. lustres is at rank #19,338, 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 65054, this pair ranks #74,087 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of loutres vs lustres

Shared letters: elrstu. Private to "loutres": o. Private to "lustres": -.

"loutres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "lustres" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • loutres ← lloutres · lotures · lourtes · louters · loutress · loutrres · loutrse · louttres
  • lustres ← llustres · lsutres · lusrtes · lusstres · lusters · lustress · lustrres · lustrse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "loutres" and "lustres" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\lutʁ\ versus \lystʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "loutres" or "lustres"?
"lustres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,338 in our French list, against #45,716 for "loutres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "loutres" and "lustres" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "loutres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lustres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,087 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "loutres" and "lustres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "louées vs loutres". 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 #74,087 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list