Which to use
“lear” is a noun and “leery” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #21,846
- “lear” frequency rank
- #48,321
- “leery” frequency rank
- 70167
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lear | leery |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Something learned; a lesson. | Cautious, suspicious, wary, hesitant, or nervous about something; having reservations or concerns. |
Where the eye mixes lear and leery
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lear with leery
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lear is /ˈlɪɹ/ while leery is /ˈlɪəɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70167, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lear is recorded at frequency rank #21,846, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɪɹ/. leery is at rank #48,321, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlɪəɹi/.
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 70167, this pair ranks #51,614 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lear vs leery
Shared letters: elr. Private to "lear": a. Private to "leery": y.
"lear" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "leery" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lear" for "leery" ever safe?
Which is more common, "lear" or "leery"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leery" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #51,614 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lear" and "leery" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leery vs lepers". 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 #51,614 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.