Meanings
comparative leakier · superlative leakiest
- Having leaks; not fully sealed.
The ceiling was so leaky that someone had to fix it.
2 more examples
The leaky bucket dripped only one drop at a time, but by the time I got back to the house it was half empty.
Nuclear reactors in Russian submarines are said to be so leaky that crews are often paid "sterility money".
1983, Michael Stephenson, Roger Hearn, The Nuclear Case Book - Tending to leak secrets or information.
The spooks' argument against this is that the secret service would become leaky and demoralised […]
1986, The Spectator, volume 257, numbers 8252-8268, page 6
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivepermitting the unwanted passage of fluids or gases
adjectiveused informally; unable to retain urine
adjectiveprone to communicate confidential information
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*lekaz“leaking; leaky”
- Old Englishhlec
- Middle Englishleke“leaky”
- Englishleaky
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”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish vuotava
- vuotavahaving leaks; allows contents to escape
French percé
- percéhaving leaks; allows contents to escape
German undicht
- undichthaving leaks; allows contents to escape
Hungarian folyó, lyukas
- folyóhaving leaks; allows contents to escape
- lyukashaving leaks; allows contents to escape
Latin fūtilis
- fūtilishaving leaks; allows contents to escape
Māori turuturu, wairere
- turuturuhaving leaks; allows contents to escape
- wairerehaving leaks; allows contents to escape
Polish nieszczelny
- nieszczelnyhaving leaks; allows contents to escape
Russian протека́ющий, дыря́вый
- протека́ющий (protekájuščij)having leaks; allows contents to escape
- дыря́вый (dyrjávyj)having leaks; allows contents to escape
Scottish Gaelic aoidionach
- aoidionachhaving leaks; allows contents to escape
Spanish permeable, llovedizo
- permeablehaving leaks; allows contents to escape
- llovedizohaving leaks; allows contents to escape
Vietnamese rò rỉ, rò
- rò rỉhaving leaks; allows contents to escape
- ròhaving leaks; allows contents to escape
- rỉhaving leaks; allows contents to escape
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with leaky
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
leaky. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leaky
“leaky.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leaky. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “leaky,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/leaky.
Source: leaky on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.