leakagevslinkageConfusable pair

Which to use

“leakage” and “linkage” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,259
“leakage” frequency rank
#24,224
“linkage” frequency rank
45483
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leakage linkage
Definition An act of leaking, or something that leaks. A mechanical device that connects things.

Where the eye mixes leakage and linkage

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
leakage
7 ch
linkage

Look-alike desk: leakage vs linkage

A purely visual mix-up. leakage (/ˈliːkɪd͡ʒ/) and linkage (/ˈlɪŋkɪdʒ/) 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 45483, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leakage is recorded at frequency rank #21,259, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈliːkɪd͡ʒ/. linkage is at rank #24,224, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlɪŋkɪdʒ/.

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 45483, this pair ranks #220,869 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leakage vs linkage

Shared letters: aegkl. Private to "leakage": -. Private to "linkage": in.

"leakage" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV  ·  "linkage" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leakageelakage · laekage · leaakge · leakaeg · leakagge · leakgae · leakkage · lekaage
  • linkageilnkage · liknage · linakge · linkaeg · linkagge · linkgae · linkkage · linnkage

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "leakage" for "linkage" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈliːkɪd͡ʒ/ versus /ˈlɪŋkɪdʒ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "leakage" vs "linkage" - which ranks higher?
"leakage" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,259 in our English list, against #24,224 for "linkage". 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 "leakage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "linkage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #220,869 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leakage" and "linkage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leakage vs Lepage". 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 #220,869 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list