story

/ˈstɔː.ɹi/

//ˈstɔː.ɹi// noun

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

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

The verdict

“story” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #341. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#341
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An account of real or fictional events.

Corpus desk

Index EN-story · story · English

story · rank #341 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #341
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH president

Nearest frequency peer: president (-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 “story”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “story” 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).

story vs STR
0% similar
story vs stow
60% similar
story vs study
60% similar

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

Key facts for story
PropertyValue
Headwordstory
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈstɔː.ɹi/
Letters5
Frequency rank#341
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “story”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).storylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “president” (#340), “working” (#342), “per” (#339). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “story” is #341. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around story (IPA /ˈstɔː.ɹi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #341 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for story, with forms such as "sotry", "sstory", and "storry". 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, "STR", "stow", "study", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English storie, storye, from Anglo-Norman estorie by aphesis, from Latin historia, from Ancient Greek ῐ̔στορῐ́ᾱ (hĭstorĭ́ā, “learning through research”). Doublet of history and storey. The correct English form is story, spelled S-T-O-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    An account of real or fictional events.
  2. 2
    A lie, fiction.
  3. 3
    A soap opera.
  4. 4
    History.
  5. 5
    A sequence of events, or a situation, such as might be related in an account.
  6. 6
    A chronological collection of pictures or short videos published by a user on an application or website that is typically only available for a short period.
  7. 7
    Ellipsis of user story.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The book tells the story of two roommates.
  2. ...it must be exploded for fabulous, with other relics of ancient story...

Etymology

From Middle English storie, storye, from Anglo-Norman estorie by aphesis, from Latin historia, from Ancient Greek ῐ̔στορῐ́ᾱ (hĭstorĭ́ā, “learning through research”). Doublet of history and storey.

This word in other languages

relato(Español)histoire(Français)Erzählung(Deutsch)estória(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sotry
  • sstory
  • storry
  • storyy
  • stoyr
  • stroy
  • sttory
  • tsory

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of story - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

sotry2sstory1storry1storyy1stoyr2stroy2sttory1tsory2
Edit distance from "story"

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 "story"?
"story" is spelled S-T-O-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈstɔː.ɹi/.
What does "story" mean?
As a noun, "story" means: An account of real or fictional events.
What words are commonly confused with "story"?
"story" is commonly confused with "STR", "stow", "study". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "story"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "story" is /ˈstɔː.ɹi/. 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 "story"?
From Middle English storie, storye, from Anglo-Norman estorie by aphesis, from Latin historia, from Ancient Greek ῐ̔στορῐ́ᾱ (hĭstorĭ́ā, “learning through research”). Doublet of history and storey. 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 "story", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

games#344maybe#338least#348means#349

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

course8 variantsblack8 variantsthank8 variantsseason8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list