Which to use
“leaky” and “leary” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,859
- “leaky” frequency rank
- #34,564
- “leary” frequency rank
- 61423
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leaky | leary |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having leaks; not fully sealed. | Alternative spelling of leery. |
Letter map: leaky vs leary
Shared letters muted; letters that set leaky and leary apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Corpus notes: leaky and leary
leaky and leary are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by a single letter - k in “leaky” becomes r in “leary”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leaky is recorded at frequency rank #26,859, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈliːki/. leary is at rank #34,564, 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 61423, this pair ranks #94,355 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of leaky vs leary
Shared letters: aely. Private to "leaky": k. Private to "leary": r.
"leaky" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "leary" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "leaky" for "leary" ever safe?
Frequency check: "leaky" vs "leary" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pair "leaky" vs "leary" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "leaky" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leary" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #94,355 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leaky" and "leary" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "leary 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 #94,355 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.