Which to use
“lead” and “letal” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,835
- “lead” frequency rank
- #12,094
- “letal” frequency rank
- 29929
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lead | letal |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o mais importante | relativo à morte |
Where the eye mixes lead and letal
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lead and letal
A purely visual mix-up. lead (AFI: /lɛd/) and letal (/lɨ.ˈtaɫ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29929, 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/. letal is at rank #12,094, tagged as anadj, pronounced /lɨ.ˈtaɫ/.
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 29929, this pair ranks #38,581 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lead vs letal
Shared letters: ael. Private to "lead": d. Private to "letal": t.
"lead" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "letal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lead" for "letal" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lead" vs "letal" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lead" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "letal" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #38,581 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lead" and "letal" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lead vs least". 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 #38,581 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.