Which to use
“shone” and “shoo” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,656
- “shone” frequency rank
- #35,078
- “shoo” frequency rank
- 56734
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shone | shoo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of shine | To induce someone or something to leave. |
Where the eye mixes shone and shoo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. shone runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against shoo's 4 (CCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses shone with shoo
A purely visual mix-up. shone (/ʃɒn/) and shoo (/ʃuː/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56734, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shone is recorded at frequency rank #21,656, classified as averb, pronounced /ʃɒn/. shoo is at rank #35,078, tagged as averb, pronounced /ʃuː/.
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 56734, this pair ranks #124,107 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shone vs shoo
Shared letters: hos. Private to "shone": en. Private to "shoo": -.
"shone" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "shoo" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shone" for "shoo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "shone" vs "shoo" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "shone" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shoo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #124,107 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shone" and "shoo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shoo vs sov". 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 #124,107 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.