Which to use
“legend” is a noun and “leger” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,375
- “legend” frequency rank
- #42,234
- “leger” frequency rank
- 45609
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | legend | leger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The life story of a saint (such stories are often embellished, but any kind is called a legend). | Light; slender, slim; trivial. |
Where the eye mixes legend and leger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. legend runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against leger's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses legend with leger
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: legend is /ˈlɛd͡ʒ.ənd/ while leger is /ˈlɛd͡ʒə(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45609, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
legend is recorded at frequency rank #3,375, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɛd͡ʒ.ənd/. leger is at rank #42,234, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlɛd͡ʒə(ɹ)/.
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 45609, this pair ranks #219,628 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of legend vs leger
Shared letters: egl. Private to "legend": dn. Private to "leger": r.
"legend" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "leger" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "legend" for "leger" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "legend" or "leger" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "legend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #219,628 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "legend" and "leger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laver vs leger". 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 #219,628 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.