leaky
/ˈliːki/adjective
leaky is spelled L-E-A-K-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, leaky means “Having leaks; not fully sealed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in leaky?
| Letters | 5: L-E-A-K-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 26,776th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is leaky?
Leaky appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 26,776th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce leaky?
- /ˈliːki/
Leaky has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-leaky.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with leaky
Sounds like: leeky (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of leaky
- leakier comparative
- leakiest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does leaky mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having leaks; not fully sealed.
The leaky bucket dripped only one drop at a time, but by the time I got back to the house it was half empty.
- 2
Tending to leak secrets or information.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Leaky in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense having leaks; allows contents to escape:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does leaky come from?
Likely a normalisation ( + -y) of earlier leak, leake, leke (“leaky”, adjective), from Middle English leke (“leaky”), from Old English hlec, *lec (“having cracks or rents; leaky”), from Proto-Germanic *lekaz (“leaking; leaky”). By surface analysis, leak + -y. Cognate with Scots lek, leck (“leaky”), Saterland Frisian läk (“leaky”), Dutch lek (“leaky”), German Low German leck (“leaky”), German leck (“leaky”), Swedish läck (“leaky”), Icelandic lekur (“leaky”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).