Which to use
“shin” is a noun and “shut” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,269
- “shin” frequency rank
- #47,728
- “shut” frequency rank
- 78997
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shin | shut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | neben dem Wadenbein einer der beiden, mithin der kräftigere Knochen des Unterschenkels | schließen |
Where the eye mixes shin and shut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. shin and shut follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: shin vs shut
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shin is [ʃɪn] while shut is [ʃʌt]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shin is recorded at frequency rank #31,269, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃɪn]. shut is at rank #47,728, tagged as averb, pronounced [ʃʌt].
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 78997, this pair ranks #225,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shin vs shut
Shared letters: hs. Private to "shin": in. Private to "shut": tu.
"shin" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "shut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shin" for "shut" ever safe?
Frequency check: "shin" vs "shut" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "shin" and "shut" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "shin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #225,996 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shin" and "shut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "schütt vs shut". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #225,996 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.