Which to use
“struck” and “stuck” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,530
- “struck” frequency rank
- #2,131
- “stuck” frequency rank
- 5661
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | struck | stuck |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of strike | simple past and past participle of stick (archaic sticked) |
Where the eye mixes struck and stuck
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between struck and stuck
A purely visual mix-up. struck (/stɹʌk/) and stuck (/stʌk/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
struck is recorded at frequency rank #3,530, classified as averb, pronounced /stɹʌk/. stuck is at rank #2,131, tagged as averb, pronounced /stʌk/.
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 5661, this pair ranks #514,459 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of struck vs stuck
Shared letters: ckstu. Private to "struck": r. Private to "stuck": -.
"struck" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCC · "stuck" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "struck" and "stuck" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "struck" vs "stuck" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "struck" and "stuck" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "struck" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stuck" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #514,459 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "struck" and "stuck" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Starbuck vs struck". 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 #514,459 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.