Which to use
“shores” and “shrew” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,129
- “shores” frequency rank
- #39,560
- “shrew” frequency rank
- 49689
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shores | shrew |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of shore | Any of numerous small, mouselike, chiefly nocturnal, mammals of the family Soricidae. |
Where the eye mixes shores and shrew
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. shores runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against shrew's 5 (CCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between shores and shrew
A purely visual mix-up. shores (/ʃɔɹz/) and shrew (/ʃɹuː/) 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 49689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shores is recorded at frequency rank #10,129, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʃɔɹz/. shrew is at rank #39,560, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʃɹuː/.
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 49689, this pair ranks #181,263 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shores vs shrew
Shared letters: ehrs. Private to "shores": o. Private to "shrew": w.
"shores" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "shrew" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shores" for "shrew" ever safe?
Which is more common, "shores" or "shrew"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "shores" and "shrew" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "shores" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shrew" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #181,263 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shores" and "shrew" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Shek vs shrew". 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 #181,263 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.