Which to use
“loy” and “lys” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,027
- “loy” frequency rank
- #14,079
- “lys” frequency rank
- 58106
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loy | lys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ancienne variante orthographique de loi. | Genre de liliacées qui porte, sur une haute tige, des fleurs à trois pétales et trois sépales pétaloïdes. |
Where the eye mixes loy and lys
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: loy vs lys
A purely visual mix-up. loy (\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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58106, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loy is recorded at frequency rank #44,027, 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 58106, this pair ranks #110,992 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of loy vs lys
Shared letters: ly. Private to "loy": o. Private to "lys": s.
"loy" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "lys" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "loy" and "lys" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "loy" vs "lys" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "loy" 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 #110,992 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loy" and "lys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lobo vs loy". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #110,992 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.