Which to use
“ledge” and “ledger” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,956
- “ledge” frequency rank
- #15,208
- “ledger” frequency rank
- 32164
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ledge | ledger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A narrow surface projecting horizontally from a wall, cliff, or other surface. | A book for keeping notes; a record book, a register. |
Where the eye mixes ledge and ledger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ledge with ledger
A purely visual mix-up. ledge (/lɛd͡ʒ/) and ledger (/ˈlɛd͡ʒə/) 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 extra letter(s) - “ledge” sits inside “ledger”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32164, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ledge is recorded at frequency rank #16,956, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɛd͡ʒ/. ledger is at rank #15,208, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɛd͡ʒə/.
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 32164, this pair ranks #340,134 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ledge vs ledger
Shared letters: degl. Private to "ledge": -. Private to "ledger": r.
"ledge" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "ledger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ledge" for "ledger" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ledge" vs "ledger" - which ranks higher?
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 "ledge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ledger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #340,134 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ledge" and "ledger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ledge vs lodger". 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 #340,134 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.