lasvslavWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“las” and “lav” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,463
“las” frequency rank
#48,859
“lav” frequency rank
53322
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature las lav
Definition plural of la Clipping of lavatory.

Where the eye mixes las and lav

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
las
3 ch
lav

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. las (/lɑːz/) and lav (/læv/) 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 a single letter - s in “las” becomes v in “lav”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53322, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

las is recorded at frequency rank #4,463, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɑːz/. lav is at rank #48,859, tagged as anoun, pronounced /læv/.

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 53322, this pair ranks #149,920 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of las vs lav

Shared letters: al. Private to "las": s. Private to "lav": v.

"las" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lav" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "las" and "lav" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/lɑːz/ versus /læv/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "las" or "lav"?
"las" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,463 in our English list, against #48,859 for "lav". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list