Which to use
“stinking” is an adjective and “stroking” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,658
- “stinking” frequency rank
- #24,327
- “stroking” frequency rank
- 51985
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stinking | stroking |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having a pungent smell. | present participle and gerund of stroke |
Where the eye mixes stinking and stroking
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses stinking with stroking
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stinking is /ˈstɪŋkɪŋ/ while stroking is /ˈstɹəʊ̯k.ɪŋ/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stinking is recorded at frequency rank #27,658, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈstɪŋkɪŋ/. stroking is at rank #24,327, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈstɹəʊ̯k.ɪŋ/.
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 51985, this pair ranks #160,818 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stinking vs stroking
Shared letters: giknst. Private to "stinking": -. Private to "stroking": or.
"stinking" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC · "stroking" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stinking" and "stroking" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "stinking" or "stroking"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "stinking" and "stroking" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "stinking" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stroking" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #160,818 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stinking" and "stroking" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stinking vs stunting". 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 #160,818 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.