stole

/stəʊl/

//stəʊl// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"stole" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“stole” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,087. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,087
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - simple past of steal

Corpus desk

Index EN-stole · stole · English

stole · rank #5,087 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,087
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH souls

Nearest frequency peer: souls (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “stole”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “stole” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

stole vs stop
60% similar
stole vs stow
60% similar
stole vs story
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for stole
PropertyValue
Headwordstole
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/stəʊl/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,087
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “stole”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).stolelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “souls” (#5,086), “Swedish” (#5,088), “sorts” (#5,085). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stole” is #5,087. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around stole (IPA /stəʊl/), averb. Corpus frequency is #5,087 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for stole, with forms such as "sotle", "sstole", and "stloe". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "stop", "stow", "story", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. The correct English form is stole, spelled S-T-O-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    simple past of steal
  2. 2
    past participle of steal

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how stole appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. TransPennine Express has removed all QR codes from its 71 car parks after scammers covered up a genuine code sticker with a false one and stole £13,000 from a woman's bank account.
  2. […]when indeed they have ſeen nothing, but have ſtole the word of the Lord from others, and borrowed from their neighbour[…]

Etymology

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sotle
  • sstole
  • stloe
  • stoel
  • stolle
  • sttole
  • tsole

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stole - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

sotle2sstole1stloe2stoel2stolle1sttole1tsole2
Edit distance from "stole"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "stole"?
"stole" is spelled S-T-O-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /stəʊl/.
What does "stole" mean?
As a verb, "stole" means: simple past of steal
What words are commonly confused with "stole"?
"stole" is commonly confused with "stop", "stow", "story". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "stole"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stole" is /stəʊl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "stole"?
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "stole", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

souls#5,086sorts#5,085Swiss#5,090bored#5,103

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

rolled7 variantsmales7 variantsdealt7 variantsHawaii7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list