Which to use
“leaky” and “lucky” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,859
- “leaky” frequency rank
- #1,766
- “lucky” frequency rank
- 28625
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leaky | lucky |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having leaks; not fully sealed. | Favoured by luck; fortunate; having good success or good fortune. |
Where the eye mixes leaky and lucky
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses leaky with lucky
A purely visual mix-up. leaky (/ˈliːki/) and lucky (/ˈlʌki/) 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 28625, 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/. lucky is at rank #1,766, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlʌki/.
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 28625, this pair ranks #369,602 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leaky vs lucky
Shared letters: kly. Private to "leaky": ae. Private to "lucky": cu.
"leaky" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "lucky" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leaky" and "lucky" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "leaky" vs "lucky" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "leaky" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "lucky" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #369,602 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leaky" and "lucky" 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 #369,602 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.