stroke
/stɹəʊk/
"stroke" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“stroke” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,555 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,555
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An act of hitting; a blow, a hit.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | stroke |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /stɹəʊk/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #4,555 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “stroke” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for stroke is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /stɹəʊk/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,555 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 34 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for stroke, with forms such as "srtoke", "sstroke", and "storke". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "strong", "stroll", "Stroud", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English strok, stroke (“blow from a weapon, cut”), from Old English strāc, from Proto-West Germanic *straik, from Proto-Germanic *straikaz (“stroke”), from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“to rub, stroke; to shear; to strike”).… The correct English form is stroke, spelled S-T-R-O-K-E.
Definition
- 1An act of hitting; a blow, a hit.
- 2An act of hitting; a blow, a hit.
- 3An act of hitting; a blow, a hit.
- 4An act of hitting; a blow, a hit.
- 5An act of hitting; a blow, a hit.
- 6An act of hitting; a blow, a hit.
- 7An act of hitting; a blow, a hit.
- 8An act of hitting; a blow, a hit.
- 9A movement similar to that of hitting.
- 10A movement similar to that of hitting.
- 11A movement similar to that of hitting.
- 12A movement similar to that of hitting.
- 13A movement similar to that of hitting.
- 14A movement similar to that of hitting.
- 15A movement similar to that of hitting.
- 16An act causing hurt or death, especially when seen as divine punishment.
- 17A damaging occurrence, especially if sudden; a blow, a calamity.
- 18An amount of work; specifically, a large amount of business or work.
- 19A powerful or sudden effort by which something is done or produced; also, something accomplished by such an effort; an achievement, a feat.
- 20A single movement of a paintbrush, chisel, pen, pencil, or similar implement; a line or mark made by such an implement.
- 21A single movement of a paintbrush, chisel, pen, pencil, or similar implement; a line or mark made by such an implement.
- 22A single movement of a paintbrush, chisel, pen, pencil, or similar implement; a line or mark made by such an implement.
- 23A single movement of a paintbrush, chisel, pen, pencil, or similar implement; a line or mark made by such an implement.
- 24A distinctive expression in a written composition; a touch.
- 25Influence; power.
- 26Influence; power.
- 27A masterful or effective action.
- 28A sudden interruption of blood supply to the brain, causing minor to major brain damage and possible death.
- 29An individual discharge of lightning, particularly if causing damage.
- 30An individual social interaction whereby one gives another attention or recognition.
- 31The effect or result of a striking; affliction or injury; a bruise or wound; soreness.
- 32Chiefly in to have a good stroke: appetite.
- 33A sudden attack of any illness, especially if causing loss of consciousness or movement, or when fatal.
- 34A bow or pluck of a string or strings of a stringed instrument; also, the manner in which a musical instrument is played; hence, a melody, a tune.
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English strok, stroke (“blow from a weapon, cut”), from Old English strāc, from Proto-West Germanic *straik, from Proto-Germanic *straikaz (“stroke”), from Proto-Indo-European *streyg- (“to rub, stroke; to shear; to strike”). Sense 3.6.2.2 (“the oblique, slash, or virgule (‘/’)”) is a contraction of oblique stroke, a variant of oblique which was originally used in telegraphy. The verb is derived from the noun. Cognates * German Streich (“stroke”) * Middle Low German strēk (“stroke, trick, prank”) * Scots strak, strake, straik (“blow, stroke”)
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: srtoke,sstroke,storke,strkoe,stroek,strokke,strroke,sttroke,tsroke
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stroke - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Using “stroke”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-R-O-K-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /stɹəʊk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “strong” - see the side-by-side comparison. stroke vs strong
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.