StrickenvsstrikeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,071
“Stricken” frequency rank
#16,295
“strike” frequency rank
36366
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Stricken strike
Definition Dativ Plural des Substantivs Strick Schlag, Angriff

Where the eye mixes Stricken and strike

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
Stricken
6 ch
strike

Why the eye confuses Stricken with strike

A purely visual mix-up. Stricken ([ˈʃtʁɪkn̩]) and strike ([stɹaɪk]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Stricken is recorded at frequency rank #20,071, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈʃtʁɪkn̩]. strike is at rank #16,295, tagged as anoun, pronounced [stɹaɪk].

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 36366, this pair ranks #1,617,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Stricken vs strike

Shared letters: eikrst. Private to "Stricken": cn. Private to "strike": -.

"Stricken" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCCVC  ·  "strike" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Strickensrticken · sstricken · stircken · strciken · striccken · stricekn · strickenn · strickken
  • strikesrtike · sstrike · stirke · strikke · strkie · strrike · sttrike · tsrike

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Stricken" for "strike" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈʃtʁɪkn̩] versus [stɹaɪk]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Stricken" or "strike"?
"strike" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,295 in our German list, against #20,071 for "Stricken". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "Stricken" and "strike" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Stricken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "strike" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,617,420 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Stricken" and "strike" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Stricken vs strippen". 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 #1,617,420 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