Leaky

How to spell leaky

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce leaky

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does leaky mean?

1. adjectiveHaving a hole or crack that allows liquid, gas, or air to pass through unintentionally.

Leaky in a sentence

• The plumber traced the damp ceiling to a leaky pipe upstairs.

• A leaky valve let the car tyre go flat overnight.

Where does leaky come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

The base word leak comes most likely from the Old Norse leka, meaning 'to drip' or 'to trickle through', which is closely related to the Old English verb leccan, 'to moisten or wet'. By the late medieval period English had the noun and verb 'leak' for the unwanted passage of liquid or air through a hole or crack. The adjective form was made simply by adding the productive suffix -y, which turns a noun into a word meaning 'full of' or 'prone to' that thing, the same pattern seen in 'dirty' from 'dirt' or 'smoky' from 'smoke'. When you attach -y to a single-syllable word ending in a vowel plus a consonant, you do not double the final consonant here because the spelling stays close to the noun: leak plus y simply gives leaky. The word has carried its plain, watery meaning for centuries and later picked up a figurative use for information that escapes when it should be kept secret.

How the word is built

• leak (from Old Norse leka: to drip or trickle)
• -y (adjective suffix: tending to)