# stern vs STR

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### stern
*adjective · IPA /stɜːn/ · frequency rank #8,356*
Having a hardness and severity of nature or manner.

### STR
*noun · frequency rank #20,507*
Initialism of short tandem repeat.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-09-03.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stern-vs-str