Which to use
“stride” and “strove” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,592
- “stride” frequency rank
- #43,398
- “strove” frequency rank
- 59990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stride | strove |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To walk with long steps. | simple past of strive |
Where the eye mixes stride and strove
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses stride with strove
A purely visual mix-up. stride (/stɹaɪd/) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stride is recorded at frequency rank #16,592, classified as averb, pronounced /stɹaɪd/. 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 59990, this pair ranks #102,851 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of stride vs strove
Shared letters: erst. Private to "stride": di. Private to "strove": ov.
"stride" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV · "strove" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stride" and "strove" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "stride" 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 "stride" 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 #102,851 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stride" 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 #102,851 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.