leastvsLustWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: least is a verb, Lust is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“least” is a verb and “Lust” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#21,333
“least” frequency rank
#1,205
“Lust” frequency rank
22538
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature least Lust
Definition 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leasen Verlangen, Wunsch nach etwas

Where the eye mixes least and Lust

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
least
4 ch
Lust

Visual trap between least and Lust

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: least is [liːst] while Lust is [lʊst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22538, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

least is recorded at frequency rank #21,333, classified as averb, pronounced [liːst]. Lust is at rank #1,205, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lʊst].

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 22538, this pair ranks #1,872,956 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of least vs Lust

Shared letters: lst. Private to "least": ae. Private to "Lust": u.

"least" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "Lust" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leastelast · laest · leasst · leastt · leats · lesat · lleast
  • Lustllust · lsut · lusst · lustt · luts · ulst

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "least" and "Lust" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "least" is a verb and "Lust" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "least" or "Lust"?
"Lust" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,205 in our German list, against #21,333 for "least". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "least" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lust" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,872,956 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "least" and "Lust" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "least vs Lees". 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 #1,872,956 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list