Which to use
“thunk” and “tuck” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #47,382
- “thunk” frequency rank
- #14,039
- “tuck” frequency rank
- 61421
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thunk | tuck |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of think | To pull or gather up (an item of fabric). |
Where the eye mixes thunk and tuck
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between thunk and tuck
A purely visual mix-up. thunk (/θʌŋk/) and tuck (/tʌk/) 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 61421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thunk is recorded at frequency rank #47,382, classified as averb, pronounced /θʌŋk/. tuck is at rank #14,039, tagged as averb, pronounced /tʌk/.
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 61421, this pair ranks #94,365 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of thunk vs tuck
Shared letters: ktu. Private to "thunk": hn. Private to "tuck": c.
"thunk" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "tuck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "thunk" for "tuck" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "thunk" or "tuck" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "thunk" and "tuck" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "thunk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tuck" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #94,365 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thunk" and "tuck" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Thun vs thunk". 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 #94,365 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.