librevslilleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,891
“libre” frequency rank
#31,159
“lille” frequency rank
67050
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature libre lille
Definition frei klein

Letter map: libre vs lille

Shared letters muted; letters that set libre and lille apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
libre
5 ch
lille

Corpus notes: libre and lille

libre and lille are indexed as a confusable German pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67050, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

libre is recorded at frequency rank #35,891, classified as anadj, pronounced [libʁ]. lille is at rank #31,159, tagged as anadj, pronounced […].

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 67050, this pair ranks #552,885 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of libre vs lille

Shared letters: eil. Private to "libre": br. Private to "lille": -.

"libre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "lille" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • libreilbre · lbire · libbre · librre · lirbe · llibre
  • lilleillle · lile · lilel · llile · llille

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "libre" for "lille" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "libre" vs "lille" - which ranks higher?
"lille" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,159 in our German list, against #35,891 for "libre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "libre" and "lille".

  • Full dictionary entry for "libre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lille" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #552,885 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "libre" and "lille" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "libre vs Lübke". 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 #552,885 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