Which to use
“sunk” and “sunken” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,617
- “sunk” frequency rank
- #20,793
- “sunken” frequency rank
- 31410
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sunk | sunken |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of sink | past participle of sink |
Where the eye mixes sunk and sunken
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sunk with sunken
A purely visual mix-up. sunk (/sʌŋk/) and sunken (/ˈsʌŋkən/) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “sunk” sits inside “sunken”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31410, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sunk is recorded at frequency rank #10,617, classified as averb, pronounced /sʌŋk/. 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 31410, this pair ranks #346,378 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of sunk vs sunken
Shared letters: knsu. Private to "sunk": -. Private to "sunken": e.
"sunk" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "sunken" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sunk" and "sunken" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "sunk" or "sunken"?
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 "sunk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sunken" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #346,378 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sunk" and "sunken" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sinker vs sunken". 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 #346,378 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.