Which to use
“shriek” is a noun and “shrunk” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,088
- “shriek” frequency rank
- #23,099
- “shrunk” frequency rank
- 62187
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shriek | shrunk |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A sharp, shrill outcry or scream; a shrill wild cry caused by sudden or extreme terror, pain, or the like. | simple past and past participle of shrink |
Where the eye mixes shriek and shrunk
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. shriek (CCCVVC) and shrunk (CCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between shriek and shrunk
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shriek is /ʃɹiːk/ while shrunk is /ʃɹʌŋk/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62187, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shriek is recorded at frequency rank #39,088, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʃɹiːk/. 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 62187, this pair ranks #89,887 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shriek vs shrunk
Shared letters: hkrs. Private to "shriek": ei. Private to "shrunk": nu.
"shriek" · 6 letters · shape CCCVVC · "shrunk" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "shriek" and "shrunk" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "shriek" or "shrunk"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "shriek" 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 #89,887 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shriek" and "shrunk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shriek vs shriver". 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 #89,887 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.