leanvsleiWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“lean” and “lei” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#8,135
“lean” frequency rank
#9,485
“lei” frequency rank
17620
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lean lei
Definition Bebida de drogas recreativas, la cual es preparada mezclando jarabe para la tos o resfriado con receta médica que contiene codeína y prometazina con refresco y dulces. Corona de flores que adorna el cuello y que se obsequia al llegar o marchar como símbolo de afecto.

Where the eye mixes lean and lei

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lean
3 ch
lei

Visual trap between lean and lei

A purely visual mix-up. lean ([ˈlĩn] (sustantivo)) and lei ([ˈlej]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17620, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lean is recorded at frequency rank #8,135, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈlĩn] (sustantivo). lei is at rank #9,485, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈlej].

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 17620, this pair ranks #271,388 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lean vs lei

Shared letters: el. Private to "lean": an. Private to "lei": i.

"lean" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "lei" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leanelan · laen · leann

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "lean" for "lei" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlĩn] (sustantivo) versus [ˈlej]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lean" vs "lei" - which ranks higher?
"lean" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,135 in our Spanish list, against #9,485 for "lei". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "lean" and "lei" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lean" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #271,388 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lean" and "lei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lei vs lies". 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 #271,388 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list