lead vs lean, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“lead” and “lean” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,835
“lead” frequency rank: #29,804
“lean” frequency rank: 47639
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	lead	lean
Definition	o mais importante	magro, sem excessos, sem peso extra, enxuto

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lead and lean apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

lead

4 ch

lean

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lead (AFI: /lɛd/) and lean (/liːn/) 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 a single letter - d in “lead” becomes n in “lean”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47639, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lead is recorded at frequency rank #17,835, classified as anadj, pronounced AFI: /lɛd/. 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 47639, this pair ranks #17,590 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of lead vs lean

Shared letters: ael. Private to "lead": d. Private to "lean": n.

"lead" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "lean" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

lead ← elad · laed · leadd · leda · llead
lean ← elan · leann · lena · llean

Frequency comparison

lead#17,835

lean#29,804

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lead" and "lean" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (AFI: /lɛd/ versus /liːn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "lead" or "lean"?

"lead" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,835 in our Portuguese list, against #29,804 for "lean". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lead vs lean

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lead” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable