Which to use
“lest” and “lys” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,865
- “lest” frequency rank
- #14,079
- “lys” frequency rank
- 41944
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lest | lys |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Genre de liliacées qui porte, sur une haute tige, des fleurs à trois pétales et trois sépales pétaloïdes. |
Where the eye mixes lest and lys
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses lest with lys
A purely visual mix-up. lest (\lɛst\) and lys (\lis\) 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 41944, 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\. lys is at rank #14,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lis\.
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 41944, this pair ranks #229,385 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lest vs lys
Shared letters: ls. Private to "lest": et. Private to "lys": y.
"lest" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lys" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- lest ← elst · lesst · lestt · lets · llest · lset
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lest" for "lys" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lest" vs "lys" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "lest" and "lys" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lest" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,385 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lest" and "lys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs lest". 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 #229,385 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.