# lest vs Lester

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### lest
*conjunction · IPA /lɛst/ · frequency rank #14,158*
For fear that; that not; in order to prevent something from happening; in case.

### Lester
*name · IPA /ˈlɛstɚ/ · frequency rank #11,911*
A surname from Old English derived from the English place name Leicester.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lest-vs-lester