Which to use
“shrank” and “shrink” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,019
- “shrank” frequency rank
- #10,769
- “shrink” frequency rank
- 43788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shrank | shrink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of shrink | To cause to become smaller. |
Where the eye mixes shrank and shrink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. shrank and shrink follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: shrank vs shrink
A purely visual mix-up. shrank (/ˈʃɹæŋk/) and shrink (/ˈʃɹɪŋk/) 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 a single letter - a in “shrank” becomes i in “shrink”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shrank is recorded at frequency rank #33,019, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈʃɹæŋk/. shrink is at rank #10,769, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈʃɹɪŋk/.
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 43788, this pair ranks #236,710 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shrank vs shrink
Shared letters: hknrs. Private to "shrank": a. Private to "shrink": i.
"shrank" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC · "shrink" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shrank" for "shrink" ever safe?
Which is more common, "shrank" or "shrink"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "shrank" and "shrink" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "shrank" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shrink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #236,710 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shrank" and "shrink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Shana vs shrank". 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 #236,710 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.