Which to use
“labor” and “lar” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,763
- “labor” frequency rank
- #40,323
- “lar” frequency rank
- 42086
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | labor | lar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of labour. | singular of lares: a household god, particularly overseeing the family itself. |
Where the eye mixes labor and lar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. labor runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against lar's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses labor with lar
A purely visual mix-up. labor (/ˈleɪ.bɚ/) and lar (/lɑː/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
labor is recorded at frequency rank #1,763, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.bɚ/. lar is at rank #40,323, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɑː/.
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 42086, this pair ranks #252,417 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of labor vs lar
Shared letters: alr. Private to "labor": bo. Private to "lar": -.
"labor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lar" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- labor ← albor · labbor · laborr · labro · laobr · lbaor · llabor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "labor" and "lar" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "labor" vs "lar" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "labor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #252,417 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "labor" and "lar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lar vs LSC". 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 #252,417 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.