# shaft vs shale

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### shaft
*noun · IPA /ʃɑːft/ · frequency rank #8,347*
The entire body of a long weapon, such as an arrow.

### shale
*noun · IPA /ʃeɪl/ · frequency rank #11,460*
A shell, scale or husk; a cod or pod.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shaft-vs-shale