leaksvslensWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#44,019
“leaks” frequency rank
#9,866
“lens” frequency rank
53885
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature leaks lens
Definition Pluriel de leak. Lentille.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
leaks
4 ch
lens

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. leaks (\ˈliks\) and lens (\ˈlɛnz\) 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 53885, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

leaks is recorded at frequency rank #44,019, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈliks\. lens is at rank #9,866, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈlɛnz\.

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 53885, this pair ranks #137,778 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of leaks vs lens

Shared letters: els. Private to "leaks": ak. Private to "lens": n.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • leakselaks · laeks · leakks · leakss · leask · lekas · lleaks
  • lenselns · lenns · lenss · lesn · llens · lnes

Frequency comparison

leaks#44,019
lens#9,866

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "leaks" and "lens" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈliks\ versus \ˈlɛnz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "leaks" or "lens"?
"lens" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,866 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 leaks vs lens

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 “leaks” 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