Which to use
“leech” and “leed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,327
- “leech” frequency rank
- #40,780
- “leed” frequency rank
- 64107
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leech | leed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of subclass Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis. | Language; tongue. |
Where the eye mixes leech and leed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses leech with leed
A purely visual mix-up. leech (/liːt͡ʃ/) and leed (/liːd/) 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 64107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leech is recorded at frequency rank #23,327, classified as anoun, pronounced /liːt͡ʃ/. leed is at rank #40,780, tagged as anoun, pronounced /liːd/.
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 64107, this pair ranks #79,444 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of leech vs leed
Shared letters: el. Private to "leech": ch. Private to "leed": d.
"leech" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "leed" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leech" for "leed" ever safe?
Which is more common, "leech" or "leed"?
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 "leech" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #79,444 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leech" and "leed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leed 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 #79,444 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.