# streak

> English word · Noun · IPA /stɹiːk/ · frequency rank #6,525

## Definitions
1. An irregular line left from smearing or motion.
2. A continuous series of like events.
3. A continuous series of like events.
4. A consistent facet of somebody's personality.
5. The color of the powder of a mineral. So called, because a simple field test for a mineral is to streak it against unglazed white porcelain.
6. A moth of the family Geometridae, Chesias legatella.
7. A tendency or characteristic, but not a dominant or pervasive one.
8. A strake.
9. A rung or round of a ladder.
10. The act of streaking, or running naked through a public area.

## Etymology
From Middle English streke, from Old English strica, from Proto-Germanic *strikiz, from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“line”). Related to North Frisian strijck, Old Saxon striki, Middle Low German streke, Low German streek, Danish streg, Swedish streck, Norwegian Bokmål strek, Icelandic stryk, strykr, Dutch streek, Afrikaans streek, Old High German strih, German Strich, Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐍂𐌹𐌺𐍃 (striks).

## Easily confused with
- **strep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/streak-vs-strep)
- **street** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/streak-vs-street)
- **stress** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/streak-vs-stress)
- **stream** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/streak-vs-stream)
- **struck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/streak-vs-struck)
- **strewn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/streak-vs-strewn)
- **Streep** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/streak-vs-streep)
- **streams** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/streak-vs-streams)
- **speak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/speak-vs-streak)
- **steam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steam-vs-streak)
- **steal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steal-vs-streak)
- **sneak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sneak-vs-streak)
- **straw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/straw-vs-streak)
- **steak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/steak-vs-streak)
- **strap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/strap-vs-streak)
- **stray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stray-vs-streak)
- **Shrek** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shrek-vs-streak)
- **stead** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stead-vs-streak)
- **strat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/strat-vs-streak)
- **spread** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spread-vs-streak)

## Common misspellings (9)
`srteak`, `sstreak`, `sterak`, `straek`, `streakk`, `streka`, `strreak`, `sttreak`, `tsreak`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/streak