Which to use
“sticking” is a verb and “striking” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,964
- “sticking” frequency rank
- #5,166
- “striking” frequency rank
- 12130
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sticking | striking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | present participle and gerund of stick | Making a strong impression. |
Where the eye mixes sticking and striking
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between sticking and striking
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sticking is /ˈstɪkɪŋ/ while striking is /ˈstɹaɪkɪŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12130, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sticking is recorded at frequency rank #6,964, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈstɪkɪŋ/. striking is at rank #5,166, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈstɹaɪkɪŋ/.
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 12130, this pair ranks #483,271 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sticking vs striking
Shared letters: giknst. Private to "sticking": c. Private to "striking": r.
"sticking" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC · "striking" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sticking" and "striking" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "sticking" vs "striking" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "sticking" and "striking" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "sticking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "striking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #483,271 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sticking" and "striking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "striding vs striking". 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 #483,271 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.