Which to use
“shrunk” is a verb and “shrunken” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,099
- “shrunk” frequency rank
- #45,655
- “shrunken” frequency rank
- 68754
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shrunk | shrunken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of shrink | Reduced in size as a result of shrinkage; shrivelled. |
Letter map: shrunk vs shrunken
Shared letters muted; letters that set shrunk and shrunken apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. shrunk runs 6 letters (CCCVCC) against shrunken's 8 (CCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: shrunk vs shrunken
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: shrunk is averb and shrunkenanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “shrunk” sits inside “shrunken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68754, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shrunk is recorded at frequency rank #23,099, classified as averb, pronounced /ʃɹʌŋk/. shrunken is at rank #45,655, tagged as anadj.
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 68754, this pair ranks #57,462 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shrunk vs shrunken
Shared letters: hknrsu. Private to "shrunk": -. Private to "shrunken": e.
"shrunk" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC · "shrunken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shrunk" and "shrunken" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "shrunk" vs "shrunken" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "shrunk" and "shrunken".
- Full dictionary entry for "shrunk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shrunken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #57,462 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shrunk" and "shrunken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Shauna vs shrunk". 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 #57,462 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.