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 eye mixes lead and lean
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lead and lean follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses lead with lean
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lead" and "lean" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lead" or "lean"?
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 "lead" 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 #17,590 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lead" 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 #17,590 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.