Which to use
“learnt” is a verb and “leary” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,684
- “learnt” frequency rank
- #34,564
- “leary” frequency rank
- 43248
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | learnt | leary |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of learn | Alternative spelling of leery. |
Letter map: learnt vs leary
Shared letters muted; letters that set learnt and leary apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Part-of-speech tell for learnt / leary
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: learnt is averb and learyanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43248, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
learnt is recorded at frequency rank #8,684, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈlɜːnt/. 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 43248, this pair ranks #241,792 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of learnt vs leary
Shared letters: aelr. Private to "learnt": nt. Private to "leary": y.
"learnt" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC · "leary" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "learnt" and "leary" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "learnt" or "leary"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "learnt" and "leary".
- Full dictionary entry for "learnt" 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 #241,792 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "learnt" 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 #241,792 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.