Which to use
“Laos” and “lápis” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,349
- “Laos” frequency rank
- #8,496
- “lápis” frequency rank
- 28845
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Laos | lápis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Laos | cilindro fino de material apropriado, geralmente grafite, envolvido por uma menos fina tora de madeira usado para escrever, desenhar ou pintar: |
Where the eye mixes Laos and lápis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Laos runs 4 letters (CVVC) against lápis's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Laos with lápis
A purely visual mix-up. Laos (/ˈlaʊs/,/ˈlɑːoʊs/) and lápis (/ˈla.piⁱʃ/) 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 28845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Laos is recorded at frequency rank #20,349, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlaʊs/,/ˈlɑːoʊs/. lápis is at rank #8,496, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈla.piⁱʃ/.
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 28845, this pair ranks #39,919 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Laos vs lápis
Shared letters: ls. Private to "Laos": ao. Private to "lápis": ipá.
"Laos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lápis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- Laos ← laoss · llaos · loas
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Laos" for "lápis" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Laos" vs "lápis" - which ranks higher?
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 "lápis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,919 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Laos" and "lápis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laca vs Laos". 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 #39,919 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.