Grammar 101: Loose vs. Lose
by IDP IELTS — February 21st, 2018
Loose and lose: These two words cause a lot of confusion and it’s well worth to spend a few minutes to know the difference between the two.
It’s very common for someone to use a word incorrectly as there are many words that sound similar but mean very different things. To avoid embarrassing blunders, we’ve come up with a list of “confusing” words and an explanation of how to correctly use them.
Click each topic to learn more about the differences between its and it’s.
- Loose vs. Lose: the difference
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Loose
Is an adjective: A word that describes a person, place, thing, event, substance or quality.
Lose
A verb: A word or phrase that describes an action, condition, or experience.
- Loose vs. Lose: the definitions
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Loose
- Not firmly held or fastened in place.
- Not fitting closely to the body (of clothes).
- Not tightly controlled, or not exact.
- Having low morals, sexually free.
- To speak or express emotions very freely, especially in an uncontrolled way.
- Not solid (watery)
Lose
- To no longer have something because you do not know where it is.
- To have something or someone taken away from you.
- To stop feeling something.
- To have less of something that you had before.
- To get rid of something.
- To fail to succeed in a game, competition.
- Loose vs. Lose: the synonyms
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Loose
Could also mean (synonyms): Baggy, easy, sloppy, free, hanging, slack, unhooked, detached, disconnected, free
Lose
Synonyms for ‘lose’ are: Drop, fail, forget, give up, suffer, waste, rob, miss, deplete, consume.
- Loose vs. Lose: in a sentence
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Loose
- A floorboard has come loose in the dining room.
- You’re not connected to the internet because there’s a loose connection in the plug.
- After the meeting, I was shocked to find a few loose sheets of paper with confidential information lying around in the room.
- Although the shoe was in my size, it was very loose.
- The movie is a loose adaptation of the short story written by Danny.
Lose
- Please lose the jacket as it makes you look so much older.
- My doctor said my health will improve if I lose weight.
- I lose two hours every morning stuck in traffic.
- I think it’s best to end our conversation before I lose my temper.
- We will have to lose half of our employees if this deal doesn’t go through.
Reference: Cambridge Dictionary
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