lesevsLustTell them apart

Quick tell: lese is a verb, Lust is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lese” is a verb and “Lust” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,907
“lese” frequency rank
#1,205
“Lust” frequency rank
4112
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lese Lust
Definition 1. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lesen Verlangen, Wunsch nach etwas

Where the eye mixes lese and Lust

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lese
4 ch
Lust

Why the eye confuses lese with Lust

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lese is [ˈleːzə] while Lust is [lʊst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4112, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lese is recorded at frequency rank #2,907, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈleːzə]. Lust is at rank #1,205, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lʊst].

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 4112, this pair ranks #1,998,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lese vs Lust

Shared letters: ls. Private to "lese": e. Private to "Lust": tu.

"lese" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "Lust" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leseelse · lesse · llese · lsee
  • Lustllust · lsut · lusst · lustt · luts · ulst

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lese" for "Lust" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lese" is a verb and "Lust" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lese" or "Lust"?
"Lust" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,205 in our German list, against #2,907 for "lese". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lese" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Lust" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,998,557 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lese" and "Lust" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lame vs lese". 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 #1,998,557 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