Which to use
“lead” is a noun and “least” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,773
- “lead” frequency rank
- #42,429
- “least” frequency rank
- 63202
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lead | least |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Puissant coup de poing direct du bras arrière. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’impératif présent de leasen. |
Where the eye mixes lead and least
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lead vs least
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lead is \lid\ while least is \liːst\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63202, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lead is recorded at frequency rank #20,773, classified as anoun, pronounced \lid\. least is at rank #42,429, tagged as averb, pronounced \liːst\.
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 63202, this pair ranks #83,243 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lead vs least
Shared letters: ael. Private to "lead": d. Private to "least": st.
"lead" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "least" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lead" for "least" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lead" vs "least" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "lead" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "least" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #83,243 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lead" and "least" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "least vs leste". 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 #83,243 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.