leakedvsleanerTell them apart

Quick tell: leaked is a verb, leaner is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“leaked” is a verb and “leaner” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,152
“leaked” frequency rank
#38,939
“leaner” frequency rank
46091
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leaked leaner
Definition simple past and past participle of leak comparative form of lean: more lean

Letter map: leaked vs leaner

Shared letters muted; letters that set leaked and leaner apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
leaked
6 ch
leaner

Role in the sentence - leaked and leaner

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: leaked is averb and leaneranadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46091, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leaked is recorded at frequency rank #7,152, classified as averb, pronounced /liːkt/. leaner is at rank #38,939, tagged as anadj.

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 46091, this pair ranks #215,054 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leaked vs leaner

Shared letters: ael. Private to "leaked": dk. Private to "leaner": nr.

"leaked" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "leaner" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leakedelaked · laeked · leaekd · leakde · leakedd · leakked · lekaed · lleaked
  • leanerelaner · laener · leaenr · leanerr · leanner · leanre · lenaer · lleaner

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "leaked" for "leaner" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "leaked" is a verb and "leaner" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "leaked" or "leaner"?
"leaked" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,152 in our English list, against #38,939 for "leaner". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "leaked" and "leaner".

  • Full dictionary entry for "leaked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "leaner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #215,054 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "leaked" and "leaner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "laver vs leaner". 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 #215,054 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