Which to use
“laborieuse” and “laborieux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,459
- “laborieuse” frequency rank
- #23,265
- “laborieux” frequency rank
- 55724
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laborieuse | laborieux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui travaille beaucoup. | Qui travaille beaucoup, qui aime le travail. |
Where the eye mixes laborieuse and laborieux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. laborieuse runs 10 letters (CVCVCVVVCV) against laborieux's 9 (CVCVCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: laborieuse vs laborieux
A purely visual mix-up. laborieuse (\la.bɔ.ʁjøz\) and laborieux (\la.bɔ.ʁjø\) 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 55724, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laborieuse is recorded at frequency rank #32,459, classified as anadj, pronounced \la.bɔ.ʁjøz\. laborieux is at rank #23,265, tagged as anadj, pronounced \la.bɔ.ʁjø\.
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 55724, this pair ranks #125,614 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laborieuse vs laborieux
Shared letters: abeiloru. Private to "laborieuse": s. Private to "laborieux": x.
"laborieuse" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVVCV · "laborieux" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- laborieuse ← alborieuse · labborieuse · laboireuse · laboreiuse · laboriesue · laborieues · laborieusse · laboriuese
- laborieux ← alborieux · labborieux · laboireux · laboreiux · laborieuxx · laboriexu · laboriuex · laborrieux
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "laborieuse" and "laborieux" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "laborieuse" or "laborieux" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "laborieuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laborieux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #125,614 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laborieuse" and "laborieux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laborieuse vs laborieuses". 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 #125,614 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.