Which to use
“labourer” and “labours” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,235
- “labourer” frequency rank
- #42,229
- “labours” frequency rank
- 73464
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | labourer | labours |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | British standard spelling of laborer. | plural of labour |
Where the eye mixes labourer and labours
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between labourer and labours
A purely visual mix-up. labourer (/ˈleɪ.bə.ɹə/) and labours (/ˈleɪbɚz/) 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 73464, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
labourer is recorded at frequency rank #31,235, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪ.bə.ɹə/. labours is at rank #42,229, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈleɪbɚz/.
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 73464, this pair ranks #39,529 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of labourer vs labours
Shared letters: abloru. Private to "labourer": e. Private to "labours": s.
"labourer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "labours" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "labourer" and "labours" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "labourer" or "labours"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "labourer" and "labours" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "labourer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "labours" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,529 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "labourer" and "labours" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "labours vs Latour". 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 #39,529 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.