StilvsstileWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Stil” and “stile” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,942
“Stil” frequency rank
#14,180
“stile” frequency rank
16122
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stil stile
Definition besondere Gestaltungsweise (in Kunst, Leben, Sport und so weiter) Stil m

Where the eye mixes Stil and stile

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Stil
5 ch
stile

Look-alike desk: Stil vs stile

A purely visual mix-up. Stil ([ʃtiːl]) 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 differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Stil” sits inside “stile”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stil is recorded at frequency rank #1,942, classified as anoun, pronounced [ʃtiːl]. 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 16122, this pair ranks #1,938,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stil vs stile

Shared letters: ilst. Private to "Stil": -. Private to "stile": e.

"Stil" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "stile" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Stilsitl · sstil · stli · sttil · tsil
  • stilesitle · sstile · stlie · sttile · tsile

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Stil" and "stile" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ʃtiːl] versus [ˈstiːle]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Stil" or "stile"?
"Stil" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,942 in our German list, against #14,180 for "stile". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stil" 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 #1,938,407 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stil" and "stile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stile vs Stilen". 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 #1,938,407 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list