Which to use
“smirk” is a noun and “stink” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,644
- “smirk” frequency rank
- #15,922
- “stink” frequency rank
- 43566
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | smirk | stink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An uneven, often crooked smile that is insolent, self-satisfied, conceited or scornful. | To have a strong bad smell. |
Where the eye mixes smirk and stink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses smirk with stink
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: smirk is /smɜːk/ while stink is /stɪŋk/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43566, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
smirk is recorded at frequency rank #27,644, classified as anoun, pronounced /smɜːk/. stink is at rank #15,922, tagged as averb, pronounced /stɪŋk/.
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 43566, this pair ranks #238,785 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of smirk vs stink
Shared letters: iks. Private to "smirk": mr. Private to "stink": nt.
"smirk" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "stink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "smirk" for "stink" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "smirk" or "stink" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "smirk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #238,785 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "smirk" and "stink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "smirk vs smock". 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 #238,785 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.