lesavsleveWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,169
“lesa” frequency rank
#7,453
“leve” frequency rank
21622
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lesa leve
Definition Forma del femenino singular de leso. De escasa importancia.

Where the eye mixes lesa and leve

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

4 ch
lesa
4 ch
leve

Why the eye confuses lesa with leve

A purely visual mix-up. lesa ([ˈlesa]) and leve ([ˈleβ̞e]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21622, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lesa is recorded at frequency rank #14,169, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈlesa]. leve is at rank #7,453, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈleβ̞e].

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 21622, this pair ranks #254,098 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lesa vs leve

Shared letters: el. Private to "lesa": as. Private to "leve": v.

"lesa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "leve" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lesalessa · llesa · lsea
  • leveelve · lebe · leev · levve · lvee

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lesa" and "leve" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈlesa] versus [ˈleβ̞e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lesa" or "leve"?
"leve" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,453 in our Spanish list, against #14,169 for "lesa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "lesa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #254,098 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lesa" and "leve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lesa vs Lyra". 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 #254,098 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