Which to use
“lar” and “larva” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,323
- “lar” frequency rank
- #29,341
- “larva” frequency rank
- 69664
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lar | larva |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | singular of lares: a household god, particularly overseeing the family itself. | An early stage of growth for some insects and amphibians, in which after hatching from their egg, insects are wingless and resemble a caterpillar or grub, and amphibians lack limbs and resemble fish. |
Where the eye mixes lar and larva
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lar vs larva
A purely visual mix-up. lar (/lɑː/) and larva (/ˈlɑː.və/) 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 extra letter(s) - “lar” sits inside “larva”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69664, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lar is recorded at frequency rank #40,323, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɑː/. larva is at rank #29,341, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɑː.və/.
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 69664, this pair ranks #53,635 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lar vs larva
Shared letters: alr. Private to "lar": -. Private to "larva": v.
"lar" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "larva" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- larva ← alrva · larav · larrva · larvva · lavra · llarva · lrava
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lar" for "larva" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lar" or "larva"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "larva" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #53,635 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lar" and "larva" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lar 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 #53,635 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.