lead-in
/ˈliːdɪn/
"lead-in" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lead-in” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An introduction; something that leads into the beginning of something.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lead-in · lead-in · English
lead-in · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "L" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lead-in |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈliːdɪn/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “lead-in” in English
Rare enough to double-check
lead-in is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈliːdɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
lead-in doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Deverbal from lead in. The correct English form is lead-in, spelled L-E-A-D---I-N.
Definition
- 1An introduction; something that leads into the beginning of something.
- 2A region of data at the beginning of a compact disc, holding the table of contents.
- 3A short phrase that begins the caption of a photograph.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how lead-in appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
After the long lead-in, the climax of the story was a disappointment.
Etymology
Deverbal from lead in.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.