Which to use
“stolen” is a verb and “stoney” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,586
- “stolen” frequency rank
- #38,182
- “stoney” frequency rank
- 41768
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stolen | stoney |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | past participle of steal | Obsolete form of stony. |
Letter map: stolen vs stoney
Shared letters muted; letters that set stolen and stoney apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. stolen (CCVCVC) and stoney (CCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Grammar separator: stolen vs stoney
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: stolen is averb and stoneyanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stolen is recorded at frequency rank #3,586, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈstəʊ.ln̩/. stoney is at rank #38,182, 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 41768, this pair ranks #255,342 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stolen vs stoney
Shared letters: enost. Private to "stolen": l. Private to "stoney": y.
"stolen" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "stoney" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stolen" and "stoney" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "stolen" or "stoney"?
After this comparison
Pair "stolen" vs "stoney" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "stolen" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stoney" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #255,342 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stolen" and "stoney" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stoney vs stover". 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 #255,342 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.