Which to use
“league” and “lease” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #772
- “league” frequency rank
- #5,432
- “lease” frequency rank
- 6204
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | league | lease |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A group or association of cooperating members. | An interest in land granting exclusive use or occupation of real estate for a limited period; a leasehold. |
Where the eye mixes league and lease
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. league runs 6 letters (CVVCVV) against lease's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between league and lease
A purely visual mix-up. league (/liːɡ/) and lease (/liːs/) 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 6204, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
league is recorded at frequency rank #772, classified as anoun, pronounced /liːɡ/. lease is at rank #5,432, tagged as anoun, pronounced /liːs/.
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 6204, this pair ranks #512,338 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of league vs lease
Shared letters: ael. Private to "league": gu. Private to "lease": s.
"league" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV · "lease" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "league" and "lease" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "league" or "lease" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "league" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lease" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #512,338 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "league" and "lease" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lease vs lessee". 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 #512,338 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.