Which to use
“Leier” is a noun and “leinen” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,168
- “Leier” frequency rank
- #14,622
- “leinen” frequency rank
- 47790
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Leier | leinen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Saiteninstrument in der Form einer Lyra | aus Leinen gemacht |
Where the eye mixes Leier and leinen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: Leier vs leinen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Leier is [ˈlaɪ̯ɐ] while leinen is [ˈlaɪ̯nən]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47790, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Leier is recorded at frequency rank #33,168, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯ɐ]. leinen is at rank #14,622, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈlaɪ̯nən].
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 47790, this pair ranks #1,271,891 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Leier vs leinen
Shared letters: eil. Private to "Leier": r. Private to "leinen": n.
"Leier" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "leinen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Leier" for "leinen" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Leier" or "leinen"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "Leier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leinen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,271,891 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Leier" and "leinen" 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 #1,271,891 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.