Which to use
“leans” is a verb and “leary” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,409
- “leans” frequency rank
- #34,564
- “leary” frequency rank
- 54973
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | leans | leary |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of lean | Alternative spelling of leery. |
Letter map: leans vs leary
Shared letters muted; letters that set leans and leary apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. leans (CVVCC) and leary (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Role in the sentence - leans and leary
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: leans is averb and learyanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54973, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
leans is recorded at frequency rank #20,409, classified as averb, pronounced /liːnz/. 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 54973, this pair ranks #137,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of leans vs leary
Shared letters: ael. Private to "leans": ns. Private to "leary": ry.
"leans" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "leary" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "leans" and "leary" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "leans" or "leary" show up more?
After this comparison
You've compared "leans" and "leary". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "leans" 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 #137,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "leans" 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 #137,089 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.