How to pronounce leak in American English

IPA /lik/ Syllables 1 · leek Stress 1st syllable

LEEK

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Americans pronounce leak as LEEK (/lik/).

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Why it sounds different

Why "leak" sounds like LEEK.

The "" at the end of "" flows directly into the vowel starting "" — the consonant migrates to the next word with no pause between. This is called the Consonant-to-Vowel Linking, a tiny act of laziness that makes the rhythm feel right. It comes out as LEEK.

In real conversation

Hear "leak" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"She hired a plumber to fix the persistent leak under the sink."

shee HAHY·erd uh PLUH·mer tuh FIHKS dhuh per·SIH·stuhnt LEEK UHN·der dhuh SIHNGK

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "leak" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "LEEK" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.