Which to use
“shirk” and “stink” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,913
- “shirk” frequency rank
- #15,922
- “stink” frequency rank
- 59835
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shirk | stink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To avoid, especially a duty, responsibility, etc.; to stay away from. | To have a strong bad smell. |
Where the eye mixes shirk and stink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. shirk and stink follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: shirk vs stink
A purely visual mix-up. shirk (/ʃɜːk/) and stink (/stɪŋk/) 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 59835, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shirk is recorded at frequency rank #43,913, classified as averb, pronounced /ʃɜːk/. stink is at rank #15,922, tagged as averb, pronounced /stɪŋk/.
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 59835, this pair ranks #103,825 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shirk vs stink
Shared letters: iks. Private to "shirk": hr. Private to "stink": nt.
"shirk" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "stink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shirk" for "stink" ever safe?
Frequency check: "shirk" vs "stink" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "shirk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #103,825 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shirk" and "stink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shirk vs snark". 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 #103,825 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.