lacsvsleaksWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“lacs” and “leaks” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#7,985
“lacs” frequency rank
#44,019
“leaks” frequency rank
52004
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lacs leaks
Definition Cordon délié. Pluriel de leak.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lacs and leaks apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
lacs
5 ch
leaks

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. lacs (\la\) and leaks (\ˈliks\) 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 52004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lacs is recorded at frequency rank #7,985, classified as anoun, pronounced \la\. leaks is at rank #44,019, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈliks\.

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 52004, this pair ranks #150,869 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lacs vs leaks

Shared letters: als. Private to "lacs": c. Private to "leaks": ek.

"lacs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "leaks" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lacsalcs · laccs · lacss · lasc · lcas · llacs
  • leakselaks · laeks · leakks · leakss · leask · lekas · lleaks

Frequency comparison

lacs#7,985
leaks#44,019

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lacs" and "leaks" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\la\ versus \ˈliks\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lacs" or "leaks"?
"lacs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,985 in our French list, against #44,019 for "leaks". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lacs vs leaks

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lacs” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list