Which to use
“lead” is a noun and “letal” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,314
- “lead” frequency rank
- #10,365
- “letal” frequency rank
- 49679
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lead | letal |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plomo. | Que provoca o puede causar la muerte |
Where the eye mixes lead and letal
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lead and letal
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lead is /lɛd/ while letal is [leˈt̪al]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lead is recorded at frequency rank #39,314, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɛd/. letal is at rank #10,365, tagged as anadj, pronounced [leˈt̪al].
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 49679, this pair ranks #107,457 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lead vs letal
Shared letters: ael. Private to "lead": d. Private to "letal": t.
"lead" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "letal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lead" for "letal" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lead" vs "letal" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lead" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "letal" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #107,457 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lead" and "letal" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lac vs lead". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #107,457 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.