leaky
Americanadjective
-
leakier,
comparative
-
leakiest
superlative
-
allowing liquid, gas, etc., to enter or escape.
a leaky boat; a leaky container.
-
Informal. unreliable.
a leaky memory; a leaky tongue.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of leaky
Explanation
Leaky things accidentally allow water (or gas) to pass through them. A leaky bucket is a bad thing, and a leaky diaper is even worse. A leaky hose lets water squirt out at different points, and a leaky helium balloon plummets to the ground, deflating as it falls. You can also talk about a leaky government, or a leaky newsroom — in other words, a group or a person guilty of exposing information that's meant to be kept secret or confidential. This kind of leak is a "deliberate disclosure of information," and it dates from the 1950s.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"The knee joint, which is also the most common location for osteoarthritis, naturally acts like a leaky bucket," Liu says.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
The shutdown had to happen because the buildings had become leaky and rusty and needed a complete overhaul.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
The leaky roof also had to be replaced.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
Happiness is not stable, Mr. Epley tells us; it’s like a leaky tire that needs continual pumping up with positive experiences.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Gabe knotted the rope around the slender trunk of a nearby sapling and glanced back at the small, leaky failure of a boat that he had been so proud of a short time before.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
A defense that seemed so strong in defeating Georgia Tech looked leakier against Furman.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 10, 2022
While full vaccination offers some protection against becoming severely ill, that protection is leakier if you haven’t been boosted, or if your last shot was more than four months ago.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2022
Nine goals in 18 league games is an incredibly worrying statistic for Davidson, especially when coupled with leakier defensive displays.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2021
All reptiles lose water through their skin, and it turns out that Gila monsters have skin that is leakier than most desert reptiles.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 22, 2016
It is leakier than any other case, and intrinsically, I think, no stronger than many of her other good cases, certainly weaker than the G. P. case.
From The Letters of William James, Vol. II by William James
What they had instead was the NFL’s leakiest pass defense and a group prone to pyrotechnics, surrendering a stunning number of big plays.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2023
"We've got the leakiest homes in Europe - losing huge amounts of energy through badly sealed windows and poorly lined walls," she will say.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2022
Bridgewater returned after halftime and the Broncos closed out the win by running the ball behind a makeshift line, finishing with 147 yards rushing against the league’s leakiest run defense.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 28, 2021
Bridgewater returned after halftime and the Broncos closed out the win by running the ball behind a makeshift line, finishing with 147 yards rushing against the league's leakiest run defense.
From Fox News ● Nov. 28, 2021
We're the leakiest society on earth, and we safeguard ourselves by keeping dangerous people out of it.
From Mr. Standfast by John Buchan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
