Which to use
“skill” and “stile” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,171
- “skill” frequency rank
- #14,180
- “stile” frequency rank
- 40351
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | skill | stile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Fähigkeit, etwas mit Sachverstand und Können zu tun, speziell durch Übung und Erfahrung | Stil m |
Where the eye mixes skill and stile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses skill with stile
A purely visual mix-up. skill ([skɪl]) and stile ([ˈstiːle]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40351, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
skill is recorded at frequency rank #26,171, classified as anoun, pronounced [skɪl]. stile is at rank #14,180, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈstiːle].
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 40351, this pair ranks #1,511,007 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of skill vs stile
Shared letters: ils. Private to "skill": k. Private to "stile": et.
"skill" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "stile" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "skill" and "stile" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "skill" vs "stile" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "skill" and "stile" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "skill" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,511,007 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "skill" and "stile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sil vs skill". 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 #1,511,007 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.