LedervsLeierConfusable pair

Which to use

“Leder” and “Leier” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,864
“Leder” frequency rank
#33,168
“Leier” frequency rank
39032
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Leder Leier
Definition Material aus gegerbter Tierhaut Saiteninstrument in der Form einer Lyra

Where the eye mixes Leder and Leier

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Leder
5 ch
Leier

Look-alike desk: Leder vs Leier

A purely visual mix-up. Leder ([ˈleːdɐ]) and Leier ([ˈlaɪ̯ɐ]) 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 a single letter - d in “Leder” becomes i in “Leier”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39032, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Leder is recorded at frequency rank #5,864, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːdɐ]. Leier is at rank #33,168, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯ɐ].

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 39032, this pair ranks #1,547,979 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Leder vs Leier

Shared letters: elr. Private to "Leder": d. Private to "Leier": i.

"Leder" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Leier" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lederldeer · ledder · lederr · ledre · leedr · lleder
  • Leierelier · leeir · leierr · leire · lieer · lleier

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Leder" for "Leier" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈleːdɐ] versus [ˈlaɪ̯ɐ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Leder" or "Leier" show up more?
"Leder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,864 in our German list, against #33,168 for "Leier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Leder" and "Leier" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Leder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,547,979 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Leder" and "Leier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs Leier". 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 #1,547,979 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