Which to use
“leads” and “lees” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,259
- “leads” frequency rank
- #27,538
- “lees” frequency rank
- 29797
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leads | lees |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of lead | The sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit. |
Where the eye mixes leads and lees
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: leads vs lees
A purely visual mix-up. leads (/lɛdz/) and lees (/liːz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29797, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leads is recorded at frequency rank #2,259, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɛdz/. lees is at rank #27,538, tagged as anoun, pronounced /liːz/.
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 29797, this pair ranks #359,929 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leads vs lees
Shared letters: els. Private to "leads": ad. Private to "lees": -.
"leads" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "lees" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leads" and "lees" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "leads" vs "lees" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "leads" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lees" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #359,929 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leads" and "lees" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lees 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 #359,929 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.