Which to use
“leme” and “lente” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,478
- “leme” frequency rank
- #9,881
- “lente” frequency rank
- 22359
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leme | lente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | superfície plana na parte traseira de um barco ou de um avião e que serve para os dirigir | professor universitário |
Where the eye mixes leme and lente
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. leme runs 4 letters (CVCV) against lente's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: leme vs lente
A purely visual mix-up. leme (/ˈlɛ.mɨ/) and lente (/ˈlẽ.tɨ/) 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 22359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leme is recorded at frequency rank #12,478, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɛ.mɨ/. lente is at rank #9,881, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlẽ.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 22359, this pair ranks #47,703 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leme vs lente
Shared letters: el. Private to "leme": m. Private to "lente": nt.
"leme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "lente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leme" and "lente" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "leme" vs "lente" - 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 "leme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,703 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leme" and "lente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Leben vs leme". 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 #47,703 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.