Which to use
“sample” and “staple” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,859
- “sample” frequency rank
- #11,611
- “staple” frequency rank
- 14470
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sample | staple |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A part or snippet of something taken or presented for inspection, or shown as evidence of the quality of the whole; a specimen. | A town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group. |
Where the eye mixes sample and staple
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: sample vs staple
A purely visual mix-up. sample (/ˈsɑːm.pəl/) and staple (/ˈsteɪ.pəl/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sample is recorded at frequency rank #2,859, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɑːm.pəl/. staple is at rank #11,611, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsteɪ.pəl/.
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 14470, this pair ranks #469,855 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sample vs staple
Shared letters: aelps. Private to "sample": m. Private to "staple": t.
"sample" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "staple" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "sample" for "staple" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "sample" or "staple" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "sample" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "staple" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #469,855 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sample" and "staple" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "staph vs staple". 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 #469,855 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.