Which to use
“labor” and “lavar” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,447
- “labor” frequency rank
- #3,336
- “lavar” frequency rank
- 29783
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | labor | lavar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | escorregar, cair | limpar (algo) por ação de um líquido, especialmente água |
Where the eye mixes labor and lavar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. labor and lavar follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between labor and lavar
A purely visual mix-up. labor (/ˈlaː.bor/, /ˈɫaː.bɔr/) and lavar (/lɐ.ˈvaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
labor is recorded at frequency rank #26,447, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈlaː.bor/, /ˈɫaː.bɔr/. lavar is at rank #3,336, tagged as averb, pronounced /lɐ.ˈvaɾ/.
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 29783, this pair ranks #38,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of labor vs lavar
Shared letters: alr. Private to "labor": bo. Private to "lavar": v.
"labor" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "lavar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "labor" for "lavar" ever safe?
Which is more common, "labor" or "lavar"?
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 "labor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lavar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #38,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "labor" and "lavar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "labor vs latir". 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 #38,792 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.