LaborvsLaosWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: Labor is a noun, Laos is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Labor” is a noun and “Laos” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,977
“Labor” frequency rank
#32,643
“Laos” frequency rank
38620
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Labor Laos
Definition Räumlichkeit oder Einrichtung, in der wissenschaftliche, technische und medizinische Untersuchungen, Analysen und Versuche durchgeführt werden Staat in Südostasien

Where the eye mixes Labor and Laos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Labor
4 ch
Laos

Look-alike desk: Labor vs Laos

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Labor is [laˈboːɐ̯] while Laos is [ˈlaːɔs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Labor is recorded at frequency rank #5,977, classified as anoun, pronounced [laˈboːɐ̯]. Laos is at rank #32,643, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈlaːɔs].

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 38620, this pair ranks #1,559,137 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Labor vs Laos

Shared letters: alo. Private to "Labor": br. Private to "Laos": s.

"Labor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Laos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Laboralbor · labbor · laborr · labro · laobr · lbaor · llabor
  • Laoslaoss · llaos · loas

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Labor" and "Laos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Labor" is a noun and "Laos" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Labor" or "Laos"?
"Labor" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,977 in our German list, against #32,643 for "Laos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Labor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Laos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,559,137 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Labor" and "Laos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs Laos". 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 #1,559,137 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list