least

\liːst\

/\liːst\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“least” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #42,429. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#42,429
frequency rank, French
2,567
“L” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’impératif présent de leasen.

Corpus desk

Index FR-least · least · French

least · rank #42,429 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #42,429
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,567
  • PHOTO-FINISH larynx

Nearest frequency peer: larynx (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « least »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « least » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

least vs les
60% similar
least vs lent
60% similar
least vs lens
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for least
PropertyValue
Headwordleast
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\liːst\
Letters5
Frequency rank#42,429
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « least »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.leastse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « larynx » (#42,428), « LGBTQ » (#42,430), « laides » (#42,427). Parmi 2,567 lemmes en « L », « least » est au #42,429. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around least (IPA \liːst\), averb. Corpus frequency is #42,429 among 2,567 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for least, with forms such as "elast", "laest", and "leasst". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "les", "lent", "lens", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is least, spelled L-E-A-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’impératif présent de leasen.
  2. 2
    Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de leasen.
  3. 3
    Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de leasen.
  4. 4
    Troisième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de leasen.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • elast
  • laest
  • leasst
  • leastt
  • leats
  • lesat
  • lleast

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of least - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

elast2laest2leasst1leastt1leats2lesat2lleast1
Edit distance from "least"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "least"?
"least" is spelled L-E-A-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is \liːst\.
What does "least" mean?
As a verb, "least" means: Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’impératif présent de leasen.
What words are commonly confused with "least"?
"least" is commonly confused with "les", "lent", "lens". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "least"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "least" is \liːst\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "least" come from?
"least" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "least", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

LGBTQ#42,430Livia#42,437locus#42,439loins#42,440

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

laides7 variantsmayor7 variantsmuter7 variantsoffset7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list