legvslipWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,059
“leg” frequency rank
#29,031
“lip” frequency rank
62090
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leg lip
Definition perna lábio

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set leg and lip apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
leg
3 ch
lip

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. leg (/lɛɡ/) and lip (/lɪp/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leg is recorded at frequency rank #33,059, classified as anoun, pronounced /lɛɡ/. lip is at rank #29,031, tagged as anoun, pronounced /lɪp/.

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 62090, this pair ranks #6,835 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of leg vs lip

Shared letters: l. Private to "leg": eg. Private to "lip": ip.

"leg" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "lip" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

leg#33,059
lip#29,031

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leg" and "lip" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/lɛɡ/ versus /lɪp/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "leg" or "lip"?
"lip" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,031 in our Portuguese list, against #33,059 for "leg". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering leg vs lip

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 “leg” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list