Which to use
“stank” and “stink” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,107
- “stank” frequency rank
- #15,922
- “stink” frequency rank
- 55029
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stank | stink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past of stink | To have a strong bad smell. |
Where the eye mixes stank and stink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. stank and stink follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between stank and stink
A purely visual mix-up. stank (/stæŋk/) and stink (/stɪŋk/) 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 a single letter - a in “stank” becomes i in “stink”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55029, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stank is recorded at frequency rank #39,107, classified as averb, pronounced /stæŋk/. 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 55029, this pair ranks #136,677 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stank vs stink
Shared letters: knst. Private to "stank": a. Private to "stink": i.
"stank" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "stink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stank" and "stink" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "stank" or "stink"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "stank" and "stink" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "stank" 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 #136,677 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stank" and "stink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stank vs staph". 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 #136,677 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.