Which to use
“strikes” and “strokes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,717
- “strikes” frequency rank
- #10,452
- “strokes” frequency rank
- 15169
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | strikes | strokes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of strike | plural of stroke |
Where the eye mixes strikes and strokes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. strikes and strokes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: strikes vs strokes
A purely visual mix-up. strikes (/stɹaɪks/) and strokes (/stɹoʊks/) 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 a single letter - i in “strikes” becomes o in “strokes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
strikes is recorded at frequency rank #4,717, classified as anoun, pronounced /stɹaɪks/. strokes is at rank #10,452, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stɹoʊks/.
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 15169, this pair ranks #465,655 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of strikes vs strokes
Shared letters: ekrst. Private to "strikes": i. Private to "strokes": o.
"strikes" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC · "strokes" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "strikes" and "strokes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "strikes" or "strokes"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "strikes" and "strokes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "strikes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "strokes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #465,655 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "strikes" and "strokes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "strokes 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 #465,655 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.