Which to use
“leer” is a verb and “less” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,726
- “leer” frequency rank
- #305
- “less” frequency rank
- 48031
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leer | less |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To look sideways or obliquely; now especially with sexual desire or malicious intent. | comparative degree of little |
Where the eye mixes leer and less
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses leer with less
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leer is /lɪə/ while less is /lɛs/. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48031, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leer is recorded at frequency rank #47,726, classified as averb, pronounced /lɪə/. less is at rank #305, tagged as anadv, pronounced /lɛs/.
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 48031, this pair ranks #197,000 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leer vs less
Shared letters: el. Private to "leer": r. Private to "less": s.
"leer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "less" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leer" and "less" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "leer" vs "less" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "leer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "less" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #197,000 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leer" and "less" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leer 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 #197,000 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.