Which to use
“least” is an adjective and “lees” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #348
- “least” frequency rank
- #27,538
- “lees” frequency rank
- 27886
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | least | lees |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little. | The sediment that settles during fermentation of beverages, consisting of dead yeast and precipitated parts of the fruit. |
Where the eye mixes least and lees
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between least and lees
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: least is /liːst/ while lees is /liːz/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27886, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
least is recorded at frequency rank #348, classified as anadj, pronounced /liːst/. 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 27886, this pair ranks #375,335 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of least vs lees
Shared letters: els. Private to "least": at. Private to "lees": -.
"least" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "lees" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "least" for "lees" ever safe?
Which is more common, "least" or "lees"?
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 "least" 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 #375,335 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "least" 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 #375,335 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.