Which to use
“land” is a noun and “lean” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,791
- “land” frequency rank
- #29,804
- “lean” frequency rank
- 37595
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | land | lean |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | terra, solo, chão | magro, sem excessos, sem peso extra, enxuto |
Where the eye mixes land and lean
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses land with lean
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: land is /ˈlɑnt/ while lean is /liːn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37595, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
land is recorded at frequency rank #7,791, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɑnt/. lean is at rank #29,804, tagged as anadj, pronounced /liːn/.
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 37595, this pair ranks #28,982 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of land vs lean
Shared letters: aln. Private to "land": d. Private to "lean": e.
"land" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "lean" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "land" for "lean" ever safe?
Frequency check: "land" vs "lean" - 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 "land" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lean" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #28,982 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "land" and "lean" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lean vs Leben". 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 #28,982 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.