Which to use
“stifle” is a verb and “stifled” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,104
- “stifle” frequency rank
- #32,194
- “stifled” frequency rank
- 61298
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stifle | stifled |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To make (an animal or person) unconscious or cause (an animal or person) to die by preventing breathing; to smother, to suffocate. | That has been interrupted, suppressed etc |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set stifle and stifled apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: stifle is averb and stifledanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “stifle” sits inside “stifled”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stifle is recorded at frequency rank #29,104, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈstaɪfl̩/. 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 61298, this pair ranks #95,056 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of stifle vs stifled
Shared letters: efilst. Private to "stifle": -. Private to "stifled": d.
"stifle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "stifled" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stifle" and "stifled" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "stifle" or "stifled"?
Remembering stifle vs stifled
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “stifle”; for an adjective, it's “stifled”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “stifle” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable