Which to use
“less” is an adjective and “lez” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,688
- “less” frequency rank
- #21,063
- “lez” frequency rank
- 51751
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | less | lez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Moins, en quantité. | À côté de, proche de, tout contre. |
Where the eye mixes less and lez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between less and lez
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: less is \ˈlɛs\ while lez is \lɛ\. 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 (adjective vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51751, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
less is recorded at frequency rank #30,688, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈlɛs\. lez is at rank #21,063, tagged as aprep, pronounced \lɛ\.
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 51751, this pair ranks #152,741 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of less vs lez
Shared letters: el. Private to "less": s. Private to "lez": z.
"less" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lez" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- less ← elss · lless · lses
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "less" for "lez" ever safe?
Which is more common, "less" or "lez"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "less" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #152,741 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "less" and "lez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs less". 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 #152,741 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.