leeway
[ˈliːˌweɪ]noun
leeway is spelled L-E-E-W-A-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, leeway means “The drift of a ship or aeroplane in a leeward direction” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of leeway is leeways.
How many letters and syllables are in leeway?
| Letters | 6: L-E-E-W-A-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 29,649th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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 leeway?
Leeway appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th 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 leeway?
- [ˈliːˌweɪ]
Leeway 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: En-us-leeway.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of leeway
- leeways plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does leeway mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The drift of a ship or aeroplane in a leeward direction.
- 2
A varying degree or amount of freedom or flexibility.
I don't think we have a lot of leeway when it comes to proper formatting.
- 3
UKAn adverse discrepancy or variation in a cumulative process, usually in the phrase make up leeway.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Leeway in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | dérive , latitude, marge |
| German | Abdrift , Spielraum, Freiraum , Versäumte, Rückstand |
| Portuguese | deriva , margem |
| Spanish | deriva , libertad, espacio, margen, tolerancia, flexibilidad |
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 leeway come from?
From lee (“side away from the wind”) + way.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).