Which to use
“shrinking” is a verb and “stinking” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,345
- “shrinking” frequency rank
- #27,658
- “stinking” frequency rank
- 44003
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shrinking | stinking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of shrink | Having a pungent smell. |
Where the eye mixes shrinking and stinking
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: shrinking vs stinking
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shrinking is /ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ/ while stinking is /ˈstɪŋkɪŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44003, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shrinking is recorded at frequency rank #16,345, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈʃɹɪŋkɪŋ/. stinking is at rank #27,658, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈstɪŋkɪŋ/.
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 44003, this pair ranks #234,620 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shrinking vs stinking
Shared letters: gikns. Private to "shrinking": hr. Private to "stinking": t.
"shrinking" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCCVCC · "stinking" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shrinking" and "stinking" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "shrinking" or "stinking"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "shrinking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stinking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #234,620 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shrinking" and "stinking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stinking vs stunting". 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 #234,620 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.