English homophones
stairs/stares
"stairs" (#5,733 written frequency) beats "stares" (#19,214) in this 2-word /ˈstɛəz/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /ˈstɛəz/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "stairs" leads at #5,733, with "stares" trailing at #19,214.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "sta" then splits - "stairs" (6 letters) vs "stares" (6).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across stairs, stares: arst. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
stairs
6 letters · 2 vowels · shape CCVVCC
Inventory airst · private i
stares
6 letters · 2 vowels · shape CCVCVC
Inventory aerst · private e
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "stairs" when you mean: plural of stair
- Write "stares" when you mean: plural of stare
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (stairs, stares). Here's where to go from here.
- "stairs" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #5,733 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: sandy · Sandi. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "stairs, stares" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.