lief
/ˈliːf/obsolete
lief is spelled L-I-E-F: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 76,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, lief means “Beloved, dear, agreeable” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in lief?
| Letters | 4: L-I-E-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 76,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 lief?
Lief appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 76,798th 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 lief?
- /ˈliːf/
- [ˈlɪi̯f]
Lief has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lief.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with lief
Sounds like: leaf (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with lief?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as lief.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: life, file, elif.
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 lief
- liefer comparative
- liever comparative
- liefest superlative
- lievest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lief mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
archaicBeloved, dear, agreeable.
- 2
archaicReady, willing.
adverb
- 1
archaicReadily, willingly, rather.
I'd as lief have one as t'other.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does lief come from?
From Middle English lef, leve, leef, from Old English lēof, from Proto-West Germanic *leub, from Proto-Germanic *leubaz.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).