sullen vs sunken, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“sullen” is an adjective and “sunken” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,399
“sullen” frequency rank: #20,793
“sunken” frequency rank: 62192
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	sullen	sunken
Definition	Having a brooding ill temper; sulky.	past participle of sink

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sullen and sunken apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

sullen

6 ch

sunken

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sullen is /ˈsʌlən/ while sunken is /ˈsʌŋkən/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62192, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sullen is recorded at frequency rank #41,399, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsʌlən/. sunken is at rank #20,793, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈsʌŋkən/.

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 62192, this pair ranks #89,853 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of sullen vs sunken

Shared letters: ensu. Private to "sullen": l. Private to "sunken": k.

"sullen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "sunken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

sullen ← slulen · ssullen · suleln · sulen · sullenn · sullne · usllen
sunken ← snuken · ssunken · suknen · sunekn · sunkenn · sunkken · sunkne · sunnken

Frequency comparison

sullen#41,399

sunken#20,793

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sullen" and "sunken" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sullen" is an adjective and "sunken" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "sullen" or "sunken"?

"sunken" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,793 in our English list, against #41,399 for "sullen". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sullen vs sunken

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “sullen”; for a verb, it's “sunken”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sullen” entry
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