Stile or style?
stile is a noun meaning “A set of one or more steps surmounting a fence or wall, or a narrow gate or…”; style is a noun meaning “A sharp stick used for writing on clay tablets or other surfaces; a stylus; (by…”. They sound the same (/staɪl/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) style is about 525 times as common as stile.
What is the difference between stile and style?
| stile | style | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun, verb, suffix |
| Meaning | A set of one or more steps surmounting a fence or wall, or a narrow gate or contrived passage through a fence or wall, which in either case allows people but… A vertical component of a frame or panel, such as that of a door, window, or ladder | A sharp stick used for writing on clay tablets or other surfaces; a stylus; (by extension, obsolete) an instrument used to write with ink; a pen A tool with a sharp point used in engraving; a burin, a graver, a stylet, a stylus To design, fashion, make, or arrange in a certain way or form (style) |
| Example | none recorded | the anal styles of insects |
| Forms | stiles | styles |
| Pronunciation | /staɪl/ | /staɪl/ /staɪ.əl/ |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words | 129 times per million words |
Sources: stile and style in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of stile and style
stile
- 1
A set of one or more steps surmounting a fence or wall, or a narrow gate or contrived passage through a fence or wall, which in either case allows people but not livestock to pass
- 2
A vertical component of a frame or panel, such as that of a door, window, or ladder
style
- 1
A sharp stick used for writing on clay tablets or other surfaces; a stylus; (by extension, obsolete) an instrument used to write with ink; a pen
- 2
To design, fashion, make, or arrange in a certain way or form (style)
- 3
column(s); forming adjectives
ortho- + -style → orthostyle
- 4
A tool with a sharp point used in engraving; a burin, a graver, a stylet, a stylus
- 5
To call or give a name or title to
The pope is styled His or Your Holiness
- 6
The gnomon or pin of a sundial, the shadow of which indicates the hour
- 7
informalTo create for, or give to, someone a style, fashion, or image, particularly one which is regarded as attractive, tasteful, or trendy
- 8
The stalk that connects the stigma(s) to the ovary in a pistil of a flower
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, stile or style?
stile appears about once in every 4 million words; style 129 times per million words.
stile about once in every 4 million wordsstyle 129 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search stile vs style?
“stile vs style” is searched about 20 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“style vs stile”, “stile or style”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.