LeckvsLeuWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Leck” and “Leu” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,120
“Leck” frequency rank
#42,653
“Leu” frequency rank
54773
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Leck Leu
Definition undichte Stelle in einem Gefäß oder einer Leitung, durch die dessen Inhalt (bspw. Flüssigkeiten oder Gase) austreten oder hereinströmen können Löwe

Where the eye mixes Leck and Leu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Leck
3 ch
Leu

Look-alike desk: Leck vs Leu

A purely visual mix-up. Leck ([lɛk]) and Leu ([lɔɪ̯]) 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 54773, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Leck is recorded at frequency rank #12,120, classified as anoun, pronounced [lɛk]. Leu is at rank #42,653, tagged as anoun, pronounced [lɔɪ̯].

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 54773, this pair ranks #1,005,628 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Leck vs Leu

Shared letters: el. Private to "Leck": ck. Private to "Leu": u.

"Leck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "Leu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Leckelck · lcek · lecck · leckk · lekc · lleck

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Leck" and "Leu" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([lɛk] versus [lɔɪ̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Leck" vs "Leu" - which ranks higher?
"Leck" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,120 in our German list, against #42,653 for "Leu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Leck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Leu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,005,628 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Leck" and "Leu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lees vs Leu". 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 #1,005,628 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list