Which to use
“trunk” and “trunks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,851
- “trunk” frequency rank
- #16,607
- “trunks” frequency rank
- 23458
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trunk | trunks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Part of a body. | plural of trunk |
Where the eye mixes trunk and trunks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between trunk and trunks
A purely visual mix-up. trunk (/tɹʌŋk/) and trunks (/tɹʌŋks/) 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 extra letter(s) - “trunk” sits inside “trunks”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trunk is recorded at frequency rank #6,851, classified as anoun, pronounced /tɹʌŋk/. trunks is at rank #16,607, tagged as anoun, pronounced /tɹʌŋks/.
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 23458, this pair ranks #409,111 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of trunk vs trunks
Shared letters: knrtu. Private to "trunk": -. Private to "trunks": s.
"trunk" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "trunks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "trunk" for "trunks" ever safe?
Frequency check: "trunk" vs "trunks" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "trunk" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "trunks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #409,111 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trunk" and "trunks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "thunk vs trunks". 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 #409,111 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.