Which to use
“stuck” and “sunk” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,131
- “stuck” frequency rank
- #10,617
- “sunk” frequency rank
- 12748
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stuck | sunk |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of stick (archaic sticked) | past participle of sink |
Where the eye mixes stuck and sunk
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses stuck with sunk
A purely visual mix-up. stuck (/stʌk/) and sunk (/sʌŋk/) 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 12748, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stuck is recorded at frequency rank #2,131, classified as averb, pronounced /stʌk/. sunk is at rank #10,617, tagged as averb, pronounced /sʌŋk/.
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 12748, this pair ranks #479,772 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stuck vs sunk
Shared letters: ksu. Private to "stuck": ct. Private to "sunk": n.
"stuck" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "sunk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stuck" and "sunk" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "stuck" or "sunk"?
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 "stuck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sunk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #479,772 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stuck" and "sunk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sunk vs sura". 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 #479,772 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.