Which to use
“sinks” and “stinks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,701
- “sinks” frequency rank
- #22,827
- “stinks” frequency rank
- 38528
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sinks | stinks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of sink | Chemistry (as a subject taught in school). |
Letter map: sinks vs stinks
Shared letters muted; letters that set sinks and stinks apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. sinks runs 5 letters (CVCCC) against stinks's 6 (CCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Pair insight - sinks / stinks
sinks and stinks 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38528, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sinks is recorded at frequency rank #15,701, classified as anoun, pronounced /sɪŋks/. stinks is at rank #22,827, 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 38528, this pair ranks #285,113 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sinks vs stinks
Shared letters: ikns. Private to "sinks": -. Private to "stinks": t.
"sinks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "stinks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sinks" and "stinks" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "sinks" vs "stinks" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've compared "sinks" and "stinks". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "sinks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stinks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #285,113 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sinks" and "stinks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "slinky vs stinks". 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 #285,113 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.