labsvslameTell them apart

Which to use

“labs” and “lame” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,163
“labs” frequency rank
#49,857
“lame” frequency rank
83020
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature labs lame
Definition Plural des Substantivs lab dünne Platte, dünne Schicht, Klinge

Letter map: labs vs lame

Shared letters muted; letters that set labs and lame apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. labs (CVCC) and lame (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
labs
4 ch
lame

Spelling & dictionary notes on labs vs lame

labs and lame are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83020, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

labs is recorded at frequency rank #33,163, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. lame is at rank #49,857, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lam].

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 83020, this pair ranks #147,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of labs vs lame

Shared letters: al. Private to "labs": bs. Private to "lame": em.

"labs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lame" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • labs ← albs · labbs · labss · lasb · llabs
  • lame ← alme · laem · lamme · llame · lmae

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "labs" for "lame" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "labs" vs "lame" - which ranks higher?
"labs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,163 in our German list, against #49,857 for "lame". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "labs" vs "lame" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "labs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lame" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #147,010 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "labs" and "lame" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lähmt vs lame". 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 #147,010 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