Which to use
“shutdown” and “shutdowns” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,683
- “shutdown” frequency rank
- #49,634
- “shutdowns” frequency rank
- 62317
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shutdown | shutdowns |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The action of stopping operations; a closing, of a computer, business, event, etc. | plural of shutdown |
Letter map: shutdown vs shutdowns
Shared letters muted; letters that set shutdown and shutdowns apart highlighted. Shared run: 8.
Spelling & dictionary notes on shutdown vs shutdowns
shutdown and shutdowns are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “shutdown” sits inside “shutdowns”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62317, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shutdown is recorded at frequency rank #12,683, classified as anoun. shutdowns is at rank #49,634, tagged as anoun.
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 62317, this pair ranks #89,201 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of shutdown vs shutdowns
Shared letters: dhnostuw. Private to "shutdown": -. Private to "shutdowns": -.
"shutdown" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC · "shutdowns" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shutdown" for "shutdowns" ever safe?
Which is more common, "shutdown" or "shutdowns"?
After this comparison
You've compared "shutdown" and "shutdowns". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "shutdown" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "shutdowns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #89,201 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shutdown" and "shutdowns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "shutdown vs sundown". 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 #89,201 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.