Which to use
“ló” is a noun and “loco” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,407
- “ló” frequency rank
- #11,910
- “loco” frequency rank
- 49317
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ló | loco |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | lado de uma embarcação que fica exposto ao vento | louco |
Where the eye mixes ló and loco
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ló runs 2 letters (CV) against loco's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ló and loco
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ló is /ˈlɔ/ while loco is /ˈlo.ko/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ló is recorded at frequency rank #37,407, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɔ/. loco is at rank #11,910, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlo.ko/.
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 49317, this pair ranks #15,712 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ló vs loco
Shared letters: l. Private to "ló": ó. Private to "loco": co.
"ló" · 2 letters · shape CV · "loco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- loco ← lcoo · lloco · locco · looc · olco
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ló" for "loco" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ló" or "loco"?
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 "ló" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "loco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #15,712 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ló" and "loco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ló vs loch". 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 #15,712 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.