lesseevsLesterWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lessee is a noun, Lester is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lessee” is a noun and “Lester” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,324
“lessee” frequency rank
#11,911
“Lester” frequency rank
60235
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lessee Lester
Definition An individual or a corporation who has the right of use of something of value, gained through a lease agreement with the real owner of the property. A surname from Old English derived from the English place name Leicester.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lessee and Lester apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
lessee
6 ch
Lester

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lessee is /lɛˈsiː/ while Lester is /ˈlɛstɚ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60235, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lessee is recorded at frequency rank #48,324, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɛˈsiː/. Lester is at rank #11,911, tagged as aname, pronounced /ˈlɛstɚ/.

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 60235, this pair ranks #101,439 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lessee vs Lester

Shared letters: els. Private to "lessee": -. Private to "Lester": rt.

"lessee" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "Lester" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lesseeelssee · lesee · lesese · lesse · llessee · lsesee
  • Lesterelster · lesetr · lesster · lesterr · lestre · lestter · letser · llester

Frequency comparison

lessee#48,324
Lester#11,911

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lessee" and "Lester" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lessee" is a noun and "Lester" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lessee" or "Lester"?
"Lester" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,911 in our English list, against #48,324 for "lessee". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lessee vs Lester

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lessee”; for a name, it's “Lester”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lessee” 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