Which to use
“lead” is a noun and “leer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #636
- “lead” frequency rank
- #47,726
- “leer” frequency rank
- 48362
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lead | leer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A heavy, pliable, inelastic metal element, having a bright, bluish color, but easily tarnished; both malleable and ductile, though with little tenacity. It is easily fusible, forms alloys with other metals, and is an ingredient of solder and type metal. Atomic number 82, symbol Pb (from Latin plumbum). | To look sideways or obliquely; now especially with sexual desire or malicious intent. |
Where the eye mixes lead and leer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. lead and leer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses lead with leer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lead is /lɛd/ while leer is /lɪə/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lead is recorded at frequency rank #636, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɛd/. leer is at rank #47,726, tagged as averb, pronounced /lɪə/.
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 48362, this pair ranks #193,755 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lead vs leer
Shared letters: el. Private to "lead": ad. Private to "leer": r.
"lead" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "leer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lead" for "leer" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "lead" or "leer" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lead" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #193,755 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lead" and "leer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leer vs lel". 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 #193,755 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.