Which to use
“lest” and “lut” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,865
- “lest” frequency rank
- #40,358
- “lut” frequency rank
- 68223
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lest | lut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Se dit de pâtes ou d'enduits qu'on applique sur les bouchons des vases pour en assurer la fermeture hermétique, autour des cornues, des tubes de verre pour les soustraire à l'action directe du feu, ou qu'on utilise pour obturer des trous, pour faire des joints etc. |
Where the eye mixes lest and lut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: lest vs lut
A purely visual mix-up. lest (\lɛst\) and lut (\lyt\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lest is recorded at frequency rank #27,865, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛst\. lut is at rank #40,358, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lyt\.
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 68223, this pair ranks #60,032 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lest vs lut
Shared letters: lt. Private to "lest": es. Private to "lut": u.
"lest" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lut" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lest ← elst · lesst · lestt · lets · llest · lset
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "lest" and "lut" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "lest" vs "lut" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,032 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lest" and "lut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lut". 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 #60,032 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.