Which to use
“ler” and “lest” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,868
- “ler” frequency rank
- #27,865
- “lest” frequency rank
- 69733
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ler | lest |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pin. | 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. |
Letter map: ler vs lest
Shared letters muted; letters that set ler and lest apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Corpus notes: ler and lest
ler and lest are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ler is recorded at frequency rank #41,868, classified as anoun. lest is at rank #27,865, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛst\.
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 69733, this pair ranks #54,027 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ler vs lest
Shared letters: el. Private to "ler": r. Private to "lest": st.
"ler" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "lest" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lest ← elst · lesst · lestt · lets · llest · lset
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ler" and "lest" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ler" or "lest"?
After this comparison
Pair "ler" vs "lest" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "ler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lest" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,027 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ler" and "lest" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs ler". 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 #54,027 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.