Which to use
“stoke” and “strove” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,775
- “stoke” frequency rank
- #43,398
- “strove” frequency rank
- 54173
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stoke | strove |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To poke, pierce, thrust. | simple past of strive |
Where the eye mixes stoke and strove
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between stoke and strove
A purely visual mix-up. stoke (/stəʊk/) and strove (/ˈstɹɔʊv/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54173, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stoke is recorded at frequency rank #10,775, classified as averb, pronounced /stəʊk/. strove is at rank #43,398, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈstɹɔʊv/.
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 54173, this pair ranks #143,116 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stoke vs strove
Shared letters: eost. Private to "stoke": k. Private to "strove": rv.
"stoke" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "strove" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stoke" and "strove" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "stoke" or "strove"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "stoke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "strove" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #143,116 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stoke" and "strove" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stover vs strove". 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 #143,116 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.