Which to use
“least” is an adjective and “leste” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,509
- “least” frequency rank
- #1,051
- “leste” frequency rank
- 49560
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | least | leste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | mínimo, menor | um dos pontos cardeais, oposto ao oeste, equivalente ao lado direito |
Letter map: least vs leste
Shared letters muted; letters that set least and leste apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. least (CVVCC) and leste (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Part-of-speech tell for least / leste
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: least is anadjective and lesteanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
least is recorded at frequency rank #48,509, classified as anadj. leste is at rank #1,051, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɛʃ.tɨ/.
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 49560, this pair ranks #15,443 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of least vs leste
Shared letters: elst. Private to "least": a. Private to "leste": -.
"least" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "leste" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "least" for "leste" ever safe?
Which is more common, "least" or "leste"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "least" and "leste".
- Full dictionary entry for "least" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #15,443 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "least" and "leste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lean 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 #15,443 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.