Which to use
“leak” is a verb and “Lee” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,874
- “leak” frequency rank
- #4,444
- “Lee” frequency rank
- 43318
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leak | Lee |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leaken | Laut Duden kann Lee sowohl das weibliche als auch das sächliche Geschlecht haben. In der Geografie wird nur die sächliche Form benutzt. In der Seemannssprache wird Lee meist ohne Artikel benutzt. |
Where the eye mixes leak and Lee
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. leak runs 4 letters (CVVC) against Lee's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between leak and Lee
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: leak is [liːk] while Lee is [leː]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43318, 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]. Lee is at rank #4,444, tagged as anoun, pronounced [leː].
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 43318, this pair ranks #1,421,806 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leak vs Lee
Shared letters: el. Private to "leak": ak. Private to "Lee": -.
"leak" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "Lee" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- leak ← elak · leakk · leka · lleak
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leak" for "Lee" ever safe?
Frequency check: "leak" vs "Lee" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "leak" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Lee" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,421,806 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leak" and "Lee" 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 #1,421,806 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.