Which to use
“leger” is an adjective and “linger” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,234
- “leger” frequency rank
- #19,382
- “linger” frequency rank
- 61616
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leger | linger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Light; slender, slim; trivial. | To stay or remain in a place or situation, especially as if unwilling to depart or not easily able to do so. |
Where the eye mixes leger and linger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. leger runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against linger's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: leger vs linger
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leger is /ˈlɛd͡ʒə(ɹ)/ while linger is /ˈlɪŋɡɚ/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61616, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leger is recorded at frequency rank #42,234, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlɛd͡ʒə(ɹ)/. linger is at rank #19,382, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈlɪŋɡɚ/.
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 61616, this pair ranks #93,223 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of leger vs linger
Shared letters: eglr. Private to "leger": -. Private to "linger": in.
"leger" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "linger" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leger" for "linger" ever safe?
Frequency check: "leger" vs "linger" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "leger" and "linger" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "leger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "linger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #93,223 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leger" and "linger" 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 #93,223 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.