Which to use
“loyal” and “loyaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,670
- “loyal” frequency rank
- #22,926
- “loyaux” frequency rank
- 38596
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | loyal | loyaux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui montre de la loyauté ; qui est sincère, droit, franc, plein d’honneur et de probité. | Masculin pluriel de loyal. |
Where the eye mixes loyal and loyaux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. loyal runs 5 letters (CVVVC) against loyaux's 6 (CVVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: loyal vs loyaux
A purely visual mix-up. loyal (\lwa.jal\) and loyaux (\lwa.jo\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
loyal is recorded at frequency rank #15,670, classified as anadj, pronounced \lwa.jal\. loyaux is at rank #22,926, tagged as anadj, pronounced \lwa.jo\.
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 38596, this pair ranks #254,173 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of loyal vs loyaux
Shared letters: aloy. Private to "loyal": -. Private to "loyaux": ux.
"loyal" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "loyaux" · 6 letters · shape CVVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "loyal" for "loyaux" ever safe?
Which is more common, "loyal" or "loyaux"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "loyal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loyaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,173 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "loyal" and "loyaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loyal vs Loyola". 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 #254,173 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.