Which to use
“leek” and “LEM” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,158
- “leek” frequency rank
- #35,810
- “LEM” frequency rank
- 69968
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leek | LEM |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A vegetable of variety Allium ampeloprasum, having edible leaves and an onion-like bulb but with a milder flavour than the onion. | Originally Lunar Excursion Module, latterly Lunar Module. |
Letter map: leek vs LEM
Shared letters muted; letters that set leek and LEM apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Pair insight - leek / LEM
leek and LEM are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leek is recorded at frequency rank #34,158, classified as anoun, pronounced /liːk/. LEM is at rank #35,810, tagged as anoun.
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 69968, this pair ranks #52,432 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of leek vs LEM
Shared letters: el. Private to "leek": k. Private to "LEM": m.
"leek" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "LEM" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- leek ← elek · leekk · lek · leke · lleek
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leek" for "LEM" ever safe?
Frequency check: "leek" vs "LEM" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "leek" and "LEM".
- Full dictionary entry for "leek" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "LEM" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,432 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leek" and "LEM" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "LEM vs LSC". 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 #52,432 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.