Which to use
“drain” and “drank” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,353
- “drain” frequency rank
- #7,679
- “drank” frequency rank
- 14032
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | drain | drank |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A conduit allowing liquid to flow out of an otherwise contained volume; a plughole (UK) | Dextromethorphan. |
Where the eye mixes drain and drank
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between drain and drank
A purely visual mix-up. drain (/dɹeɪn/) and drank (/ˈdɹæŋk/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14032, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
drain is recorded at frequency rank #6,353, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɹeɪn/. drank is at rank #7,679, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈdɹæŋk/.
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 14032, this pair ranks #472,453 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of drain vs drank
Shared letters: adnr. Private to "drain": i. Private to "drank": k.
"drain" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "drank" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "drain" for "drank" ever safe?
Frequency check: "drain" vs "drank" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "drain" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "drank" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #472,453 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "drain" and "drank" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Darrin vs drain". 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 #472,453 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.