lestervslutterWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“lester” and “lutter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#20,774
“lester” frequency rank
#3,018
“lutter” frequency rank
23792
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lester lutter
Definition Garnir de lest. Combattre, se prendre corps à corps avec quelqu’un pour le terrasser.

Where the eye mixes lester and lutter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
lester
6 ch
lutter

Look-alike desk: lester vs lutter

A purely visual mix-up. lester (\lɛs.te\) and lutter (\ly.te\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lester is recorded at frequency rank #20,774, classified as averb, pronounced \lɛs.te\. lutter is at rank #3,018, tagged as averb, pronounced \ly.te\.

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 23792, this pair ranks #350,430 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lester vs lutter

Shared letters: elrt. Private to "lester": s. Private to "lutter": u.

"lester" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "lutter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lesterelster · lesetr · lesster · lesterr · lestre · lestter · letser · llester
  • lutterllutter · ltuter · luter · lutetr · lutterr · luttre · ultter

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lester" and "lutter" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\lɛs.te\ versus \ly.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "lester" vs "lutter" - which ranks higher?
"lutter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,018 in our French list, against #20,774 for "lester". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "lester" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "lutter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #350,430 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lester" and "lutter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leste vs lester". 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 #350,430 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list