Which to use
“lah” and “laugh” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,894
- “lah” frequency rank
- #2,214
- “laugh” frequency rank
- 47108
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lah | laugh |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of la. | An expression of mirth particular to the human species; the sound heard in laughing; laughter. |
Where the eye mixes lah and laugh
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lah vs laugh
A purely visual mix-up. lah (/lɑː/) and laugh (/lɐːf/) 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 47108, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lah is recorded at frequency rank #44,894, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɑː/. laugh is at rank #2,214, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɐːf/.
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 47108, this pair ranks #205,487 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lah vs laugh
Shared letters: ahl. Private to "lah": -. Private to "laugh": gu.
"lah" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "laugh" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- laugh ← alugh · laguh · lauggh · laughh · lauhg · llaugh · luagh
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lah" and "laugh" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "lah" or "laugh"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lah" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laugh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #205,487 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lah" and "laugh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lah 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 #205,487 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.