Which to use
“skilled” and “stifled” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,841
- “skilled” frequency rank
- #32,194
- “stifled” frequency rank
- 38035
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | skilled | stifled |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having or showing skill; skillful. | That has been interrupted, suppressed etc |
Letter map: skilled vs stifled
Shared letters muted; letters that set skilled and stifled apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Spelling & dictionary notes on skilled vs stifled
skilled and stifled are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
skilled is recorded at frequency rank #5,841, classified as anadj, pronounced /skɪld/. stifled is at rank #32,194, 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 38035, this pair ranks #289,388 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of skilled vs stifled
Shared letters: deils. Private to "skilled": k. Private to "stifled": ft.
"skilled" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stifled" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "skilled" for "stifled" ever safe?
Which is more common, "skilled" or "stifled"?
What to do next
You've compared "skilled" and "stifled". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "skilled" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stifled" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,388 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "skilled" and "stifled" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stifled vs stilted". 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 #289,388 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.