Which to use
“Leben” and “Lesben” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #132
- “Leben” frequency rank
- #8,241
- “Lesben” frequency rank
- 8373
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Leben | Lesben |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | der Inbegriff alles Organischen, basierend auf Stoffwechsel, Vermehrung und Wachstum | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Lesbe |
Where the eye mixes Leben and Lesben
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between Leben and Lesben
A purely visual mix-up. Leben ([ˈleːbn̩]) and Lesben ([ˈlɛsbn̩]) 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 8373, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Leben is recorded at frequency rank #132, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːbn̩]. Lesben is at rank #8,241, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛsbn̩].
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 8373, this pair ranks #1,984,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Leben vs Lesben
Shared letters: beln. Private to "Leben": -. Private to "Lesben": s.
"Leben" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "Lesben" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Leben" and "Lesben" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Leben" or "Lesben" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "Leben" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lesben" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,984,543 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Leben" and "Lesben" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lenzen vs Lesben". 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 #1,984,543 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.