lowvslusWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#8,731
“low” frequency rank
#12,613
“lus” frequency rank
21344
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature low lus
Definition Bas. Masculin pluriel de lu.

Where the eye mixes low and lus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
low
3 ch
lus

Look-alike desk: low vs lus

A purely visual mix-up. low (\loʊ\) and lus (\ly\) 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 21344, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

low is recorded at frequency rank #8,731, classified as anadj, pronounced \loʊ\. 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 21344, this pair ranks #363,665 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of low vs lus

Shared letters: l. Private to "low": ow. Private to "lus": su.

"low" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lus" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "low" and "lus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\loʊ\ versus \ly\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "low" vs "lus" - which ranks higher?
"low" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,731 in our French list, against #12,613 for "lus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "low" 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 #363,665 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "low" and "lus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lus". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #363,665 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