laborvslazerConfusable pair

Which to use

“labor” and “lazer” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,763
“labor” frequency rank
#41,730
“lazer” frequency rank
43493
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature labor lazer
Definition Alternative spelling of labour. One who lazes.

Letter map: labor vs lazer

Shared letters muted; letters that set labor and lazer apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. labor and lazer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
labor
5 ch
lazer

Corpus notes: labor and lazer

labor and lazer are indexed as a confusable English 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 43493, 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/. lazer is at rank #41,730, tagged as anoun.

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 43493, this pair ranks #239,500 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of labor vs lazer

Shared letters: alr. Private to "labor": bo. Private to "lazer": ez.

"labor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "lazer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • labor ← albor · labbor · laborr · labro · laobr · lbaor · llabor
  • lazer ← alzer · laezr · lazerr · lazre · lazzer · llazer · lzaer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "labor" for "lazer" 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: "labor" vs "lazer" - which ranks higher?
"labor" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,763 in our English list, against #41,730 for "lazer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "labor" and "lazer".

  • Full dictionary entry for "labor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lazer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #239,500 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "labor" and "lazer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laver vs lazer". 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 #239,500 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list