Which to use
“leve” and “lèvres” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,877
- “leve” frequency rank
- #2,934
- “lèvres” frequency rank
- 42811
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leve | lèvres |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pension. | Pluriel de lèvre. |
Where the eye mixes leve and lèvres
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. leve runs 4 letters (CVCV) against lèvres's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses leve with lèvres
A purely visual mix-up. leve (\ˈleː.ve\) and lèvres (\lɛvʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42811, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leve is recorded at frequency rank #39,877, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈleː.ve\. lèvres is at rank #2,934, tagged as anoun, pronounced \lɛvʁ\.
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 42811, this pair ranks #222,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leve vs lèvres
Shared letters: elv. Private to "leve": -. Private to "lèvres": rsè.
"leve" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lèvres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- leve ← elve · leev · levve · lleve · lvee
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leve" for "lèvres" ever safe?
Which is more common, "leve" or "lèvres"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "leve" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lèvres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #222,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leve" and "lèvres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lep vs leve". 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 #222,776 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.