Which to use
“labor” and “lobo” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,763
- “labor” frequency rank
- #37,070
- “lobo” frequency rank
- 38833
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | labor | lobo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of labour. | A wolf. |
Where the eye mixes labor and lobo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. labor runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against lobo's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: labor vs lobo
A purely visual mix-up. labor (/ˈleɪ.bɚ/) and lobo (/ˈləʊbəʊ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38833, 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/. lobo is at rank #37,070, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈləʊbəʊ/.
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 38833, this pair ranks #282,282 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of labor vs lobo
Shared letters: blo. Private to "labor": ar. Private to "lobo": -.
"labor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lobo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "labor" and "lobo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "labor" or "lobo" show up more?
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 "lobo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #282,282 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "labor" and "lobo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lobo vs lope". 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 #282,282 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.