Which to use
“shrewd” is an adjective and “spread” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,204
- “shrewd” frequency rank
- #1,650
- “spread” frequency rank
- 26854
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shrewd | spread |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Showing clever resourcefulness in practical matters. | To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space. |
Where the eye mixes shrewd and spread
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between shrewd and spread
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shrewd is /ʃɹuːd/ while spread is /spɹɛd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26854, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shrewd is recorded at frequency rank #25,204, classified as anadj, pronounced /ʃɹuːd/. spread is at rank #1,650, tagged as averb, pronounced /spɹɛd/.
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 26854, this pair ranks #383,523 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shrewd vs spread
Shared letters: ders. Private to "shrewd": hw. Private to "spread": ap.
"shrewd" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC · "spread" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "shrewd" and "spread" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "shrewd" or "spread" 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 "shrewd" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spread" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #383,523 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shrewd" and "spread" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shrew vs shrewd". 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 #383,523 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.