Which to use
“lest” is a verb and “lex” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,316
- “lest” frequency rank
- #12,961
- “lex” frequency rank
- 31277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lest | lex |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lesen | das Recht, das Gesetz, die Gesetzessammlung |
Letter map: lest vs lex
Shared letters muted; letters that set lest and lex apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Part-of-speech tell for lest / lex
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: lest is averb and lexanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lest is recorded at frequency rank #18,316, classified as averb, pronounced [leːst]. lex is at rank #12,961, tagged as anoun.
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 31277, this pair ranks #1,731,372 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lest vs lex
Shared letters: el. Private to "lest": st. Private to "lex": x.
"lest" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lex" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lest ← elst · lesst · lestt · llest · lset
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lest" and "lex" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "lest" or "lex" show up more?
Useful next steps
You've compared "lest" and "lex". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "lest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lex" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,731,372 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lest" and "lex" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs lest". 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 #1,731,372 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.