leer

[leːɐ̯]

/[leːɐ̯]/ adj

The verdict

“leer” has 5 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #2,116. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,116
frequency rank, German
2,640
“L” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (fast) ohne (physischen) Inhalt

Corpus desk

Index DE-leer · leer · German

leer · rank #2,116 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,116
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,640
  • PHOTO-FINISH höre

Nearest frequency peer: höre (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “leer”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “leer” sits against the nearest ranked German headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

leer vs Lr
25% similar
leer vs Leo
25% similar
leer vs leg
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for leer
PropertyValue
Headwordleer
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[leːɐ̯]
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,116
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Wo “leer” in der deutschen Häufigkeit sitzt

Diese Skala geht vom Kern des Alltagdeutschen (links) bis zum seltenen Langschwanz (rechts).leerliegt hier:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Skala ist logarithmisch (jeder Tick ≈ 10× seltener). In derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite liegen „höre“ (#2,115), „manchen“ (#2,117), „hängen“ (#2,114). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around leer (IPA [leːɐ̯]), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #2,116 among 2,640 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for leer, with forms such as "eler", "leerr", and "ler". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Lr", "Leo", "leg", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is leer, spelled L-E-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    (fast) ohne (physischen) Inhalt
  2. 2
    ohne Menschen
  3. 3
    ohne Mimik und Gesten; ohne geistigen Gehalt; ohne Substanz/Tiefgang

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how leer appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Die Flasche ist leer.
  2. »Ich trinke nur noch mein Glas leer, dann gehe ich.«

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eler
  • leerr
  • ler
  • lere
  • lleer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of leer - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

eler2leerr1ler1lere2lleer1
Edit distance from "leer"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "leer"?
"leer" is spelled L-E-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is [leːɐ̯].
What does "leer" mean?
As an adjective, "leer" means: (fast) ohne (physischen) Inhalt
What words are commonly confused with "leer"?
"leer" is commonly confused with "Lr", "Leo", "leg". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "leer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "leer" is [leːɐ̯]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "leer" come from?
"leer" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "leer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

You've looked up "leer". Here's where to go from here.

  • "leer" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Lr". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #2,116 among German headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more German words in the "L" letter cohort. L–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list