Which to use
“lacy” and “leaky” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,558
- “lacy” frequency rank
- #26,859
- “leaky” frequency rank
- 48417
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lacy | leaky |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Made of lace or decorated with it. | Having leaks; not fully sealed. |
Where the eye mixes lacy and leaky
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between lacy and leaky
A purely visual mix-up. lacy (/ˈleɪ.si/) and leaky (/ˈliːki/) 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 48417, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lacy is recorded at frequency rank #21,558, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈleɪ.si/. leaky is at rank #26,859, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈliːki/.
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 48417, this pair ranks #193,256 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of lacy vs leaky
Shared letters: aly. Private to "lacy": c. Private to "leaky": ek.
"lacy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "leaky" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "lacy" for "leaky" ever safe?
Frequency check: "lacy" vs "leaky" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "lacy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leaky" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #193,256 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "lacy" and "leaky" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leaky vs leery". 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 #193,256 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.