Strife or strive?
strife is a noun meaning “Striving; earnest endeavor; hard work”; strive is a verb meaning “To try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and…”. Use strife as a noun and strive as a verb. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) strive is about 2.1 times as common as strife.
What is the difference between strife and strive?
| strife | strive | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | verb |
| Meaning | Striving; earnest endeavor; hard work Exertion or contention for superiority, either by physical or intellectual means | To try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently To struggle in opposition; to be in contention or dispute; to contend; to contest |
| Example | A few observations about the interpretation of vows or pledges may not be out of place here. Interpretation of pledges has been a fruitful… | He strove to excel |
| Forms | strifes | strives, striving, strove, strived, striven |
| Pronunciation | /stɹaɪf/ | /ˈstɹaɪv/ |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words | 5.2 times per million words |
Sources: strife and strive 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 strife and strive
strife
- 1
Striving; earnest endeavor; hard work
- 2
Exertion or contention for superiority, either by physical or intellectual means
- 3
Bitter conflict, sometimes violent
A few observations about the interpretation of vows or pledges may not be out of place here. Interpretation of pledges has been a fruitful source of strife all the world over. No…
- 4
colloquialA trouble of any kind
strive
- 1
To try to achieve a result; to make strenuous effort; to try earnestly and persistently
He strove to excel
- 2
To struggle in opposition; to be in contention or dispute; to contend; to contest
to strive against fate
- 3
To vie; to compete as a rival
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, strife or strive?
strife appears 2.5 times per million words; strive 5.2 times per million words.
strife 2.5 times per million wordsstrive 5.2 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 strife vs strive?
“strife vs strive” is searched about 30 times a month on Google and 10 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“strive vs strife”, “strife or strive”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.