ShekvssookConfusable pair

Quick tell: Shek is a name, sook is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Shek” is a name and “sook” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,911
“Shek” frequency rank
#46,187
“sook” frequency rank
90098
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Shek sook
Definition A surname from Cantonese. Alternative spelling of suck.

Letter map: Shek vs sook

Shared letters muted; letters that set Shek and sook apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. Shek (CCVC) and sook (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
Shek
4 ch
sook

Role in the sentence - Shek and sook

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Shek is aname and sookaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90098, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Shek is recorded at frequency rank #43,911, classified as aname. sook is at rank #46,187, tagged as averb.

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 90098, this pair ranks #4,502 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Shek vs sook

Shared letters: ks. Private to "Shek": eh. Private to "sook": o.

"Shek" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "sook" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Shek ← hsek · sehk · shekk · shhek · shke · sshek
  • sook ← osok · sok · soko · sookk · ssook

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Shek" and "sook" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Shek" is a name and "sook" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Shek" or "sook"?
"Shek" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #43,911 in our English list, against #46,187 for "sook". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "Shek" vs "sook" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Shek" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sook" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #4,502 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Shek" and "sook" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "soca vs sook". 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 #4,502 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list