Which to use
“labo” and “Lob” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,609
- “labo” frequency rank
- #43,529
- “Lob” frequency rank
- 56138
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | labo | Lob |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Laboratoire. | Éloge, compliment, félicitations, louange. |
Where the eye mixes labo and Lob
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. labo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against Lob's 3 (CVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: labo vs Lob
A purely visual mix-up. labo (\la.bo\) and Lob (\loːp\) 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 56138, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
labo is recorded at frequency rank #12,609, classified as anoun, pronounced \la.bo\. Lob is at rank #43,529, tagged as anoun, pronounced \loːp\.
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 56138, this pair ranks #123,009 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of labo vs Lob
Shared letters: blo. Private to "labo": a. Private to "Lob": -.
"labo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Lob" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- labo ← albo · labbo · laob · lbao · llabo
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "labo" and "Lob" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "labo" or "Lob" show up more?
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 "labo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lob" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #123,009 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "labo" and "Lob" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lob vs lobo". 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 #123,009 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.