Which to use
“shuts” is a verb and “slits” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,273
- “shuts” frequency rank
- #33,852
- “slits” frequency rank
- 49125
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shuts | slits |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of shut | plural of slit |
Where the eye mixes shuts and slits
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. shuts and slits follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between shuts and slits
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shuts is /ʃʌts/ while slits is /ˈslɪts/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49125, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shuts is recorded at frequency rank #15,273, classified as averb, pronounced /ʃʌts/. slits is at rank #33,852, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈslɪts/.
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 49125, this pair ranks #186,590 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of shuts vs slits
Shared letters: st. Private to "shuts": hu. Private to "slits": il.
"shuts" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "slits" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shuts" for "slits" ever safe?
Frequency check: "shuts" vs "slits" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "shuts" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "slits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #186,590 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shuts" and "slits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "SIDS vs slits". 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 #186,590 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.