Which to use
“stroke” is a noun and “strong” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,555
- “stroke” frequency rank
- #614
- “strong” frequency rank
- 5169
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stroke | strong |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An act of hitting; a blow, a hit. | Capable of producing great physical force. |
Where the eye mixes stroke and strong
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: stroke vs strong
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stroke is /stɹəʊk/ while strong is /stɹɒŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stroke is recorded at frequency rank #4,555, classified as anoun, pronounced /stɹəʊk/. strong is at rank #614, tagged as anadj, pronounced /stɹɒŋ/.
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 5169, this pair ranks #516,338 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stroke vs strong
Shared letters: orst. Private to "stroke": ek. Private to "strong": gn.
"stroke" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV · "strong" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stroke" and "strong" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "stroke" or "strong"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "stroke" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "strong" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #516,338 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stroke" and "strong" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stroke 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 #516,338 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.