Which to use
“shrank” and “shrunk” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,019
- “shrank” frequency rank
- #23,099
- “shrunk” frequency rank
- 56118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shrank | shrunk |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of shrink | simple past and past participle of shrink |
Where the eye mixes shrank and shrunk
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: shrank vs shrunk
A purely visual mix-up. shrank (/ˈʃɹæŋk/) and shrunk (/ʃɹʌŋk/) 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 u in “shrunk”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56118, 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/. shrunk is at rank #23,099, tagged as averb, pronounced /ʃɹʌŋk/.
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 56118, this pair ranks #128,596 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shrank vs shrunk
Shared letters: hknrs. Private to "shrank": a. Private to "shrunk": u.
"shrank" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC · "shrunk" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "shrank" and "shrunk" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "shrank" or "shrunk" show up more?
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 "shrank" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shrunk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #128,596 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shrank" and "shrunk" 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 #128,596 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.