Which to use
“leases” is a verb and “lessee” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,955
- “leases” frequency rank
- #48,324
- “lessee” frequency rank
- 65279
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leases | lessee |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of lease | An individual or a corporation who has the right of use of something of value, gained through a lease agreement with the real owner of the property. |
Where the eye mixes leases and lessee
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. leases (CVVCVC) and lessee (CVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between leases and lessee
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leases is /ˈlisɪz/ while lessee is /lɛˈsiː/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65279, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leases is recorded at frequency rank #16,955, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈlisɪz/. lessee is at rank #48,324, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɛˈsiː/.
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 65279, this pair ranks #73,547 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of leases vs lessee
Shared letters: els. Private to "leases": a. Private to "lessee": -.
"leases" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "lessee" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leases" for "lessee" ever safe?
Frequency check: "leases" vs "lessee" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "leases" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lessee" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,547 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leases" and "lessee" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lassie 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 #73,547 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.