leervsLetoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: leer is a verb, Leto is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leer” is a verb and “Leto” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,726
“leer” frequency rank
#26,862
“Leto” frequency rank
74588
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leer Leto
Definition To look sideways or obliquely; now especially with sexual desire or malicious intent. Leto, in Greek mythology, the mother of Apollo and Artemis.

Letter map: leer vs Leto

Shared letters muted; letters that set leer and Leto apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. leer (CVVC) and Leto (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
leer
4 ch
Leto

Role in the sentence - leer and Leto

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: leer is averb and Letoaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74588, 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/. Leto is at rank #26,862, tagged as aname.

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 74588, this pair ranks #35,878 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of leer vs Leto

Shared letters: el. Private to "leer": r. Private to "Leto": ot.

"leer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Leto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leer ← eler · leerr · ler · lere · lleer
  • Leto ← elto · leot · letto · lleto · lteo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leer" and "Leto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leer" is a verb and "Leto" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leer" or "Leto"?
"Leto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,862 in our English list, against #47,726 for "leer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "leer" vs "Leto" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "leer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #35,878 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leer" and "Leto" 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 #35,878 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list