Which to use
“lent” and “ley” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,389
- “lent” frequency rank
- #29,720
- “ley” frequency rank
- 40109
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lent | ley |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative letter-case form of Lent. | Arable land used temporarily for hay or grazing. |
Where the eye mixes lent and ley
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lent with ley
A purely visual mix-up. lent (/lɛnt/) and ley (/leɪ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40109, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lent is recorded at frequency rank #10,389, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɛnt/. ley is at rank #29,720, tagged as anoun, pronounced /leɪ/.
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 40109, this pair ranks #270,603 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lent vs ley
Shared letters: el. Private to "lent": nt. Private to "ley": y.
"lent" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "ley" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- lent ← elnt · lennt · lentt · letn · llent · lnet
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lent" and "ley" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lent" or "ley"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ley" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #270,603 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lent" and "ley" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ley vs LSC". 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 #270,603 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.