Which to use
“stakes” and “strikes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,962
- “stakes” frequency rank
- #4,717
- “strikes” frequency rank
- 11679
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stakes | strikes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of stake | plural of strike |
Where the eye mixes stakes and strikes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses stakes with strikes
A purely visual mix-up. stakes (/steɪks/) and strikes (/stɹaɪks/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stakes is recorded at frequency rank #6,962, classified as anoun, pronounced /steɪks/. strikes is at rank #4,717, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stɹaɪks/.
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 11679, this pair ranks #485,720 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stakes vs strikes
Shared letters: ekst. Private to "stakes": a. Private to "strikes": ir.
"stakes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "strikes" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stakes" and "strikes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "stakes" or "strikes"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "stakes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "strikes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #485,720 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stakes" and "strikes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stakes vs staves". 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 #485,720 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.