Which to use
“sinker” and “spinner” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,779
- “sinker” frequency rank
- #18,194
- “spinner” frequency rank
- 64973
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sinker | spinner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That which sinks or descends. | Agent noun of spin; someone or something who spins. |
Where the eye mixes sinker and spinner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sinker with spinner
A purely visual mix-up. sinker (/ˈsɪŋkə(ɹ)/) and spinner (/ˈspɪnɚ/) 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 64973, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sinker is recorded at frequency rank #46,779, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɪŋkə(ɹ)/. spinner is at rank #18,194, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈspɪnɚ/.
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 64973, this pair ranks #75,062 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of sinker vs spinner
Shared letters: einrs. Private to "sinker": k. Private to "spinner": p.
"sinker" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "spinner" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sinker" for "spinner" ever safe?
Which is more common, "sinker" or "spinner"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sinker" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "spinner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,062 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sinker" and "spinner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "silken vs sinker". 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 #75,062 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.