labsvslamasConfusable pair

Which to use

“labs” and “lamas” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,240
“labs” frequency rank
#40,346
“lamas” frequency rank
70586
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature labs lamas
Definition Pluriel de lab. Pluriel de lama.

Where the eye mixes labs and lamas

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. labs runs 4 letters (CVCC) against lamas's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
labs
5 ch
lamas

Look-alike desk: labs vs lamas

A purely visual mix-up. labs (\læbz\) and lamas (\la.ma\) 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 70586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

labs is recorded at frequency rank #30,240, classified as anoun, pronounced \læbz\. lamas is at rank #40,346, tagged as anoun, pronounced \la.ma\.

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 70586, this pair ranks #50,779 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of labs vs lamas

Shared letters: als. Private to "labs": b. Private to "lamas": m.

"labs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "lamas" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • labs ← albs · labbs · labss · lasb · lbas · llabs
  • lamas ← almas · laams · lamass · lammas · lamsa · llamas · lmaas

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "labs" for "lamas" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\læbz\ versus \la.ma\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "labs" vs "lamas" - which ranks higher?
"labs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,240 in our French list, against #40,346 for "lamas". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "labs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lamas" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #50,779 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "labs" and "lamas" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lamas vs limes". 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 #50,779 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list