Which to use
“seared” is an adjective and “stares” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,840
- “seared” frequency rank
- #19,214
- “stares” frequency rank
- 53054
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | seared | stares |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | blackened by heat; scorched; burned | plural of stare |
Letter map: seared vs stares
Shared letters muted; letters that set seared and stares apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. seared (CVVCVC) and stares (CCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Grammar separator: seared vs stares
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: seared is anadjective and staresanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
seared is recorded at frequency rank #33,840, classified as anadj. stares is at rank #19,214, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈstɛəz/.
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 53054, this pair ranks #152,058 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of seared vs stares
Shared letters: aers. Private to "seared": d. Private to "stares": t.
"seared" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "stares" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "seared" and "stares" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "seared" or "stares"?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "seared" and "stares".
- Full dictionary entry for "seared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stares" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #152,058 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "seared" and "stares" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seager vs seared". 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 #152,058 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.