Which to use
“leaking” is a verb and “lurking” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,243
- “leaking” frequency rank
- #14,357
- “lurking” frequency rank
- 25600
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leaking | lurking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of leak | The act of one who lurks. |
Letter map: leaking vs lurking
Shared letters muted; letters that set leaking and lurking apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. leaking (CVVCVCC) and lurking (CVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Role in the sentence - leaking and lurking
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: leaking is averb and lurkinganoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leaking is recorded at frequency rank #11,243, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈliːkɪŋ/. lurking is at rank #14,357, tagged as anoun.
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 25600, this pair ranks #393,030 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leaking vs lurking
Shared letters: gikln. Private to "leaking": ae. Private to "lurking": ru.
"leaking" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "lurking" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leaking" and "lurking" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "leaking" vs "lurking" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "leaking" and "lurking".
- Full dictionary entry for "leaking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lurking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #393,030 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leaking" and "lurking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "loring vs lurking". 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 #393,030 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.