lurevsluthWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,019
“lure” frequency rank
#36,476
“luth” frequency rank
84495
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lure luth
Definition Leurre. Cordophone portable d’origine arabe, de corps généralement piriforme prolongé par un manche recouvert d'une touche sur laquelle le musicien appuie avec les doigts d'une main les cordes tendues attachées au cordier à une extrémité, et à la table d'harmonie à l'autre, ceci afin de modifier les notes obtenues, tandis que de l'autre main il excite les cordes à vibrer au-dessus de la caisse de résonance, soit en les tirant et les relâchant vivement, ou les frappant, soit en les frottant avec un outil tel un archet.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lure and luth apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lure
4 ch
luth

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lure (\lʊər\) and luth (\lyt\) 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 84495, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lure is recorded at frequency rank #48,019, classified as anoun, pronounced \lʊər\. luth is at rank #36,476, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lyt\.

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 84495, this pair ranks #12,909 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lure vs luth

Shared letters: lu. Private to "lure": er. Private to "luth": ht.

"lure" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "luth" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lurellure · lrue · lurre · ulre
  • luthlluth · ltuh · luht · luthh · lutth · ulth

Frequency comparison

lure#48,019
luth#36,476

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lure" and "luth" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lʊər\ versus \lyt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lure" or "luth"?
"luth" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,476 in our French list, against #48,019 for "lure". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lure vs luth

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 “lure” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list