Which to use
“shank” is a noun and “sunk” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,596
- “shank” frequency rank
- #10,617
- “sunk” frequency rank
- 37213
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shank | sunk |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The part of the leg between the knee and the ankle. | past participle of sink |
Where the eye mixes shank and sunk
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: shank vs sunk
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shank is /ˈʃæŋk/ while sunk is /sʌŋk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shank is recorded at frequency rank #26,596, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈʃæŋk/. sunk is at rank #10,617, tagged as averb, pronounced /sʌŋk/.
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 37213, this pair ranks #296,452 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shank vs sunk
Shared letters: kns. Private to "shank": ah. Private to "sunk": u.
"shank" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "sunk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "shank" and "sunk" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "shank" or "sunk"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "shank" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sunk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #296,452 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shank" and "sunk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Shana vs shank". 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 #296,452 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.