Which to use
“shut” and “sit” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,738
- “shut” frequency rank
- #1,355
- “sit” frequency rank
- 3093
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shut | sit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To close, in various senses. | To be in a position in which the upper body is upright and supported by the buttocks. |
Where the eye mixes shut and sit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: shut vs sit
A purely visual mix-up. shut (/ʃʌt/) and sit (/sɪt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3093, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shut is recorded at frequency rank #1,738, classified as averb, pronounced /ʃʌt/. sit is at rank #1,355, tagged as averb, pronounced /sɪt/.
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 3093, this pair ranks #523,137 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of shut vs sit
Shared letters: st. Private to "shut": hu. Private to "sit": i.
"shut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "sit" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- shut ← hsut · shhut · shtu · shutt · sshut · suht
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "shut" and "sit" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "shut" vs "sit" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "shut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #523,137 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shut" and "sit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Sif vs sit". 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 #523,137 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.