LaosvslaúdTell them apart

Quick tell: Laos is a name, laúd is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Laos” is a name and “laúd” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19,471
“Laos” frequency rank
#42,534
“laúd” frequency rank
62005
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Laos laúd
Definition País del sudeste de Asia, sin litoral. Limita con al noroeste con Birmania, al norte con China, al este con Vietnam, al sur con Camboya y al oeste con Tailandia. Instrumento musical antiguo de cuerda, formado por una caja de resonancia ovalada y abombada por la parte trasera, seis pares de cuerdas, y cuyo clavijero forma un ángulo muy pronunciado con el mango, que es corto.

Where the eye mixes Laos and laúd

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

4 ch
Laos
4 ch
laúd

Why the eye confuses Laos with laúd

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Laos is [ˈlaos] while laúd is [laˈuð̞]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62005, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Laos is recorded at frequency rank #19,471, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈlaos]. laúd is at rank #42,534, tagged as anoun, pronounced [laˈuð̞].

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 62005, this pair ranks #53,523 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Laos vs laúd

Shared letters: al. Private to "Laos": os. Private to "laúd": .

"Laos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "laúd" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Laoslaoss · llaos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Laos" for "laúd" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Laos" is a name and "laúd" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Laos" vs "laúd" - which ranks higher?
"Laos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,471 in our Spanish list, against #42,534 for "laúd". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Laos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "laúd" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #53,523 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Laos" and "laúd" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs laúd". 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 #53,523 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list