Which to use
“lesma” and “lhama” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,714
- “lesma” frequency rank
- #42,084
- “lhama” frequency rank
- 81798
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lesma | lhama |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nome vulgar dos moluscos pulmonados da família dos Limacídeos (mais particularmente os do género Limax Cuvier) | mamífero ruminante andino, de pescoço longo e pelo lanoso, parente do camelo, conhecido por cuspir quando é desagradado e pela sua lã; o mesmo que lama |
Where the eye mixes lesma and lhama
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. lesma (CVCCV) and lhama (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses lesma with lhama
A purely visual mix-up. lesma (/ˈleʒ.mɐ/) and lhama (/ˈʎɐ̃.ma/) 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 81798, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lesma is recorded at frequency rank #39,714, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈleʒ.mɐ/. lhama is at rank #42,084, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈʎɐ̃.ma/.
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 81798, this pair ranks #1,113 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of lesma vs lhama
Shared letters: alm. Private to "lesma": es. Private to "lhama": h.
"lesma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "lhama" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lesma" for "lhama" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lesma" vs "lhama" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "lesma" and "lhama" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "lesma" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lhama" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,113 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lesma" and "lhama" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lhama vs liana". 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 #1,113 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.