headstonevsheadstrongWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: headstone is a noun, headstrong is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“headstone” is a noun and “headstrong” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,881
“headstone” frequency rank
#42,173
“headstrong” frequency rank
81054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature headstone headstrong
Definition A gravestone, a grave marker: a monument traditionally made of stone placed at the head of a grave. Determined to do as one pleases, and not as others want.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set headstone and headstrong apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
headstone
10 ch
headstrong

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: headstone is anoun and headstronganadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

headstone is recorded at frequency rank #38,881, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈhɛdstoʊn/. headstrong is at rank #42,173, tagged as anadj.

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 81054, this pair ranks #18,505 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of headstone vs headstrong

Shared letters: adehnost. Private to "headstone": -. Private to "headstrong": gr.

"headstone" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCCVCV  ·  "headstrong" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • headstoneehadstone · haedstone · headdstone · headsotne · headsstone · headstnoe · headstoen · headstonne
  • headstrongehadstrong · haedstrong · headdstrong · headsrtong · headsstrong · headstorng · headstrnog · headstrogn

Frequency comparison

headstone#38,881
headstrong#42,173

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "headstone" and "headstrong" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "headstone" is a noun and "headstrong" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "headstone" or "headstrong"?
"headstone" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,881 in our English list, against #42,173 for "headstrong". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering headstone vs headstrong

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “headstone”; for an adjective, it's “headstrong”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “headstone” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list