Which to use
“leaned” and “leave” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,954
- “leaned” frequency rank
- #457
- “leave” frequency rank
- 17411
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leaned | leave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of lean | To have a consequence or remnant. |
Where the eye mixes leaned and leave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: leaned vs leave
A purely visual mix-up. leaned (/liːnd/) and leave (/liːv/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17411, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leaned is recorded at frequency rank #16,954, classified as averb, pronounced /liːnd/. leave is at rank #457, tagged as averb, pronounced /liːv/.
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 17411, this pair ranks #451,607 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of leaned vs leave
Shared letters: ael. Private to "leaned": dn. Private to "leave": v.
"leaned" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "leave" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "leaned" and "leave" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "leaned" or "leave"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "leaned" and "leave" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "leaned" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "leave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #451,607 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leaned" and "leave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Laney vs leaned". 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 #451,607 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.