sexyvsstayWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sexy is a adjective, stay is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sexy” is an adjective and “stay” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,153
“sexy” frequency rank
#19,048
“stay” frequency rank
22201
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sexy stay
Definition sexuell aufreizend oder erregend bleiben

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set sexy and stay apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
sexy
4 ch
stay

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sexy is anadjective and stayaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22201, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sexy is recorded at frequency rank #3,153, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈsɛksi]. stay is at rank #19,048, tagged as averb, pronounced […].

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 22201, this pair ranks #1,877,054 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sexy vs stay

Shared letters: sy. Private to "sexy": ex. Private to "stay": at.

"sexy" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "stay" · 4 letters · shape CCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sexyesxy · sexxy · sexyy · seyx · ssexy · sxey
  • staysaty · sstay · stayy · sttay · stya · tsay

Frequency comparison

sexy#3,153
stay#19,048

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sexy" and "stay" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sexy" is an adjective and "stay" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sexy" or "stay"?
"sexy" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,153 in our German list, against #19,048 for "stay". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sexy vs stay

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “sexy”; for a verb, it's “stay”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sexy” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list