Which to use
“labors” is a noun and “Laos” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,637
- “labors” frequency rank
- #18,604
- “Laos” frequency rank
- 55241
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | labors | Laos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of labor | A country in Southeast Asia. Official name: Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Capital: Vientiane. |
Where the eye mixes labors and Laos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. labors runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against Laos's 4 (CVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses labors with Laos
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: labors is /ˈleɪbɚz/ while Laos is /ˈlaʊ(s)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 55241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
labors is recorded at frequency rank #36,637, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪbɚz/. Laos is at rank #18,604, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈlaʊ(s)/.
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 55241, this pair ranks #135,091 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of labors vs Laos
Shared letters: alos. Private to "labors": br. Private to "Laos": -.
"labors" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "Laos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "labors" for "Laos" ever safe?
Which is more common, "labors" or "Laos"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "labors" 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 #135,091 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "labors" and "Laos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "labors vs labours". 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 #135,091 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.