lest
\lɛst\
The verdict
“lest” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #27,865 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #27,865
- frequency rank, French
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Pierres, sable ou autres matières pesantes dont on charge le fond d’un bateau pour lui donner la stabilité convenable, en le faisant suffisamment entrer dans l’eau.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lest |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \lɛst\ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #27,865 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lest” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for lest is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \lɛst\. Corpus data places it at rank #27,865 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for lest, with forms such as "elst", "lesst", and "lestt". 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, "LT", "LS", "lit", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is lest, spelled L-E-S-T.
Definition
- 1Pierres, sable ou autres matières pesantes dont on charge le fond d’un bateau pour lui donner la stabilité convenable, en le faisant suffisamment entrer dans l’eau.
- 2Sacs de sable qui sont placés dans la nacelle d’un ballon et qu’on jette pour donner plus de légèreté au ballon.
- 3Poids supplémentaire porté dans un planeur pour déplacer le domaine de performance optimale vers des vitesses supérieures. Souvent de l’eau est stockée dans une soute, et peut être évacué pendant le vol.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: elst,lesst,lestt,lets,llest,lset
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lest - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Using “lest”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is L-E-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \lɛst\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “LT” - see the side-by-side comparison. lest vs LT
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.