Which to use
“leak” and “least” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,874
- “leak” frequency rank
- #21,333
- “least” frequency rank
- 60207
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leak | least |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leaken | 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leasen |
Where the eye mixes leak and least
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. leak runs 4 letters (CVVC) against least's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses leak with least
A purely visual mix-up. leak ([liːk]) and least ([liːst]) 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 60207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leak is recorded at frequency rank #38,874, classified as averb, pronounced [liːk]. least is at rank #21,333, tagged as averb, pronounced [liːst].
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 60207, this pair ranks #795,637 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leak vs least
Shared letters: ael. Private to "leak": k. Private to "least": st.
"leak" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "least" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leak" and "least" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "leak" or "least" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "leak" and "least" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "leak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "least" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #795,637 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leak" and "least" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leak vs Lees". 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 #795,637 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.