LehmvsLeosConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#19,633
“Lehm” frequency rank
#46,110
“Leos” frequency rank
65743
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lehm Leos
Definition quarzhaltiger, kalkfreier Ton, der reich an Eisenverbindungen ist; gutes Ausgangsmaterial für Keramik und Ziegel Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Leo

Where the eye mixes Lehm and Leos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. Lehm (CVCC) and Leos (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Lehm
4 ch
Leos

Visual trap between Lehm and Leos

A purely visual mix-up. Lehm ([leːm]) and Leos ([ˈleːos]) 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 65743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lehm is recorded at frequency rank #19,633, classified as anoun, pronounced [leːm]. Leos is at rank #46,110, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈleːos].

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 65743, this pair ranks #596,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Lehm vs Leos

Shared letters: el. Private to "Lehm": hm. Private to "Leos": os.

"Lehm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Leos" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lehm ← elhm · lehhm · lehmm · lemh · lhem · llehm
  • Leos ← elos · leoss · leso · lleos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Lehm" and "Leos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([leːm] versus [ˈleːos]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Lehm" or "Leos" show up more?
"Lehm" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,633 in our German list, against #46,110 for "Leos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "Lehm" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #596,562 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lehm" and "Leos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs Leos". 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 #596,562 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