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PlainSpell

least

/list/adjective, determiner, adverb, noun, pronoun, prepositional phrase

least is spelled L-E-A-S-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 275 times per million words in written English, the 347th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, least means “Chiefly used with abstract nouns: less than all others in extent or size; littlest, smallest” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in least?

Letters5: L-E-A-S-T
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing275 times per million words; the 347th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is least?

Least appears 275 times per million words in written English, the 347th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce least?

  • UK /liːst/
  • US /list/

Least has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-least.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-least.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with least

Sounds like: leased (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with least?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as least from its last stressed vowel (/ist/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: steal, tales, slate, tesla, stale, lates, stela.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of least

  • leasts plural
  • 'least

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does least mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Chiefly used with abstract nouns: less than all others in extent or size; littlest, smallest.

    least common multiple

  2. 2

    Of two or more animals or plants with the same name: the smaller or smallest.

    least weasel

  3. 3

    archaicLowest in importance or status; most insignificant or unimportant.

  4. 4

    obsoleteFollowed by an agent noun: of a person: who does some action to the smallest degree.

determiner

  1. 1

    Smallest in amount or extent.

    He earns the least money in his family.

  2. 2

    Followed by a plural noun: the smallest number of; the fewest.

    Whichever queue contains the least items by the time this logic branch is reached will be executed first.

  3. 3

    Any, no matter how small in amount or extent.

    not even the least amount

adverb

  1. 1

    In a degree below all others; in the lowest or smallest degree.

    My best routine was the one I had practised the least.

  2. 2

    Used to form superlatives of adjectives, especially those that do not form the superlative by adding -est.

    It was the least surprising thing.

noun

  1. 1

    Preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little; the lowest-ranking or most insignificant person or (sometimes) group of people.

    even the least of

  2. 2

    Something of the smallest possible extent; an indivisible unit; a minimum.

pronoun

  1. 1

    Chiefly preceded by the: superlative form of little: most little; the smallest amount or extent of something.

    I’m giving least of all towards her present.

prepositional phrase

  1. 1

    informalnonstandardAt least.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Least in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchle moindre, le plus petit (smallest in amount or extent), moindre, moins (in a degree below all others; in the lowest or…)
Germangeringst, kleinst, minimalst (smallest in amount or extent)
Portuguesemínimo (smallest in amount or extent)
Spanishmínimo (smallest in amount or extent), lo más mínimo, menos (in a degree below all others; in the lowest or…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does least come from?

The adjective, determiner, and noun are derived from Middle English leste, lest, last (“(adjective) smallest, least; (noun) smallest thing, etc.; person or thing least in importance; etc.”), from Old English lǣst, a contraction of læsast, læsest (“least”) (also lærest in only one source), from Proto-Germanic *laisistaz (“smallest, least”), from *laisiz (“less”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *leh₂is- or *leh₃is-; whence modern English less) + *-istaz (“suffix forming superlative forms of some adjectives”). The adverb and pronoun are derived from the adjective or determiner.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after least