LesbevsLeuteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,511
“Lesbe” frequency rank
#215
“Leute” frequency rank
39726
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Lesbe Leute
Definition Frau, die homosexuelle Neigungen besitzt, lesbisch ist eine Gruppe von Personen, Menschen meist unbestimmter, aber auch bestimmter Anzahl

Where the eye mixes Lesbe and Leute

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

5 ch
Lesbe
5 ch
Leute

Why the eye confuses Lesbe with Leute

A purely visual mix-up. Lesbe ([ˈlɛsbə]) and Leute ([ˈlɔɪ̯tə]) 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 39726, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Lesbe is recorded at frequency rank #39,511, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɛsbə]. Leute is at rank #215, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlɔɪ̯tə].

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 39726, this pair ranks #1,528,695 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Lesbe vs Leute

Shared letters: el. Private to "Lesbe": bs. Private to "Leute": tu.

"Lesbe" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Leute" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Lesbeelsbe · lebse · lesbbe · leseb · lessbe · llesbe · lsebe
  • Leuteelute · letue · leuet · leutte · lleute · luete

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Lesbe" and "Leute" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlɛsbə] versus [ˈlɔɪ̯tə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Lesbe" or "Leute"?
"Leute" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #215 in our German list, against #39,511 for "Lesbe". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Lesbe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,528,695 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Lesbe" and "Leute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leibes vs Lesbe". 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 #1,528,695 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