Which to use
“strategy” and “strates” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,634
- “strategy” frequency rank
- #28,363
- “strates” frequency rank
- 70997
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | strategy | strates |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Stratégie. | Pluriel de strate. |
Where the eye mixes strategy and strates
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between strategy and strates
A purely visual mix-up. strategy (\ˈstɹæt.ə.d͡ʒi\) and strates (\stʁat\) 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 70997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
strategy is recorded at frequency rank #42,634, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈstɹæt.ə.d͡ʒi\. strates is at rank #28,363, tagged as anoun, pronounced \stʁat\.
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 70997, this pair ranks #49,192 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of strategy vs strates
Shared letters: aerst. Private to "strategy": gy. Private to "strates": -.
"strategy" · 8 letters · shape CCCVCVCV · "strates" · 7 letters · shape CCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "strategy" and "strates" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "strategy" or "strates"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "strategy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "strates" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,192 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "strategy" and "strates" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "strate vs strategy". 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 #49,192 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.