Which to use
“leaks” is a verb and “less” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,748
- “leaks” frequency rank
- #30,180
- “less” frequency rank
- 58928
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leaks | less |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs leak | weniger von etwas |
Letter map: leaks vs less
Shared letters muted; letters that set leaks and less apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Role in the sentence - leaks and less
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: leaks is averb and lessanadverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58928, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leaks is recorded at frequency rank #28,748, classified as averb, pronounced […]. less is at rank #30,180, tagged as anadv, pronounced [lɛs].
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 58928, this pair ranks #843,947 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leaks vs less
Shared letters: els. Private to "leaks": ak. Private to "less": -.
"leaks" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "less" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leaks" and "less" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "leaks" or "less"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "leaks" and "less".
- Full dictionary entry for "leaks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "less" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #843,947 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leaks" and "less" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "less vs Loses". 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 #843,947 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.