Which to use
“leak” and “look” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,874
- “leak” frequency rank
- #6,324
- “look” frequency rank
- 45198
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leak | look |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leaken | schauen, sehen |
Where the eye mixes leak and look
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses leak with look
A purely visual mix-up. leak ([liːk]) and look ([lʊk]) 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 45198, 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]. look is at rank #6,324, tagged as averb, pronounced [lʊk].
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 45198, this pair ranks #1,361,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leak vs look
Shared letters: kl. Private to "leak": ae. Private to "look": o.
"leak" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "look" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leak" and "look" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "leak" vs "look" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "leak" and "look" 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 "look" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,361,159 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leak" and "look" 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 #1,361,159 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.