lesseevsleveeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“lessee” and “levee” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,324
“lessee” frequency rank
#37,541
“levee” frequency rank
85865
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lessee levee
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. An elevated ridge of deposited sediment on the banks of a river, formed by the river's overflow at times of high discharge.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
lessee
5 ch
levee

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lessee (/lɛˈsiː/) and levee (/ˈlɛvi/) 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 85865, 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/. levee is at rank #37,541, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɛvi/.

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 85865, this pair ranks #9,736 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lessee vs levee

Shared letters: el. Private to "lessee": s. Private to "levee": v.

"lessee" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "levee" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lesseeelssee · lesee · lesese · lesse · llessee · lsesee
  • leveeelvee · leeve · leve · levvee · llevee · lveee

Frequency comparison

lessee#48,324
levee#37,541

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lessee" and "levee" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/lɛˈsiː/ versus /ˈlɛvi/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lessee" or "levee"?
"levee" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,541 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 levee

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • 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