Which to use
“lock” is a noun and “lose” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,711
- “lock” frequency rank
- #27,921
- “lose” frequency rank
- 50632
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lock | lose |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | fechadura | frouxo |
Letter map: lock vs lose
Shared letters muted; letters that set lock and lose apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Role in the sentence - lock and lose
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lock is anoun and loseanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50632, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lock is recorded at frequency rank #22,711, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɒk/. lose is at rank #27,921, tagged as anadj.
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 50632, this pair ranks #14,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lock vs lose
Shared letters: lo. Private to "lock": ck. Private to "lose": es.
"lock" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lose" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lock" for "lose" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lock" or "lose"?
What to do next
You've compared "lock" and "lose". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "lock" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lose" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lock" and "lose" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loch vs lose". 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 #14,323 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.