leftvslegitWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: left is a adjective, legit is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“left” is an adjective and “legit” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#215
“left” frequency rank
#7,023
“legit” frequency rank
7238
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature left legit
Definition Designating the side of the body toward the west when one is facing north; the side of the body on which the heart is located in most humans; the opposite of right. This arrow points to the reader's left: ← A legitimate; a legitimate actor.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set left and legit apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
left
5 ch
legit

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

left and legit form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

left is recorded at frequency rank #215, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlɛft/. legit is at rank #7,023, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɪˈd͡ʒɪt/.

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 7238, this pair ranks #507,980 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

left#215
legit#7,023

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "left" and "legit" be used interchangeably?
No, "left" and "legit" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering left vs legit

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “left”; for a noun, it's “legit”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “left” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list