Which to use
“shrunk” is a verb and “skunk” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,099
- “shrunk” frequency rank
- #25,578
- “skunk” frequency rank
- 48677
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shrunk | skunk |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of shrink | Any of various small mammals, of most genera of the family Mephitidae, native to North and Central America, having a glossy black with a white coat and two musk glands at the base of the tail for emitting a noxious smell as a defensive measure. |
Where the eye mixes shrunk and skunk
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses shrunk with skunk
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shrunk is /ʃɹʌŋk/ while skunk is /skʌŋk/. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48677, 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/. skunk is at rank #25,578, tagged as anoun, pronounced /skʌŋk/.
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 48677, this pair ranks #190,788 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shrunk vs skunk
Shared letters: knsu. Private to "shrunk": hr. Private to "skunk": -.
"shrunk" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC · "skunk" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shrunk" for "skunk" ever safe?
Frequency check: "shrunk" vs "skunk" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "shrunk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "skunk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #190,788 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shrunk" and "skunk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "skunk vs swank". 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 #190,788 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.