Which to use
“state” and “stone” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #163
- “state” frequency rank
- #1,676
- “stone” frequency rank
- 1839
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | state | stone |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. | A hard earthen substance that can form rocks; especially, such substance when regarded as a building material. |
Where the eye mixes state and stone
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. state (/steɪt/) and stone (/stəʊ̯n/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1839, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
state is recorded at frequency rank #163, classified as anoun, pronounced /steɪt/. stone is at rank #1,676, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stəʊ̯n/.
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 1839, this pair ranks #526,506 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of state vs stone
Shared letters: est. Private to "state": a. Private to "stone": no.
"state" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "stone" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV