Which to use
“shunning” is a verb and “stunning” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,776
- “shunning” frequency rank
- #4,556
- “stunning” frequency rank
- 51332
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shunning | stunning |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of shun | Having an effect that stuns. |
Letter map: shunning vs stunning
Shared letters muted; letters that set shunning and stunning apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. shunning and stunning follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Grammar separator: shunning vs stunning
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: shunning is averb and stunninganadjective. On the page they differ by a single letter - h in “shunning” becomes t in “stunning”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51332, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shunning is recorded at frequency rank #46,776, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈʃʌnɪŋ/. stunning is at rank #4,556, 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 51332, this pair ranks #166,388 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shunning vs stunning
Shared letters: ginsu. Private to "shunning": h. Private to "stunning": t.
"shunning" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC · "stunning" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "shunning" and "stunning" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "shunning" or "stunning"?
What to do next
You've compared "shunning" and "stunning". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "shunning" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stunning" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #166,388 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shunning" and "stunning" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shunning 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 #166,388 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.