Which to use
“shaped” is an adjective and “stared” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,784
- “shaped” frequency rank
- #13,065
- “stared” frequency rank
- 16849
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | shaped | stared |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having been given a shape, especially a curved shape. | simple past and past participle of stare |
Where the eye mixes shaped and stared
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between shaped and stared
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: shaped is /ʃeɪpt/ while stared is /stɛɹd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16849, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
shaped is recorded at frequency rank #3,784, classified as anadj, pronounced /ʃeɪpt/. stared is at rank #13,065, tagged as averb, pronounced /stɛɹd/.
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 16849, this pair ranks #455,208 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of shaped vs stared
Shared letters: ades. Private to "shaped": hp. Private to "stared": rt.
"shaped" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "stared" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "shaped" for "stared" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "shaped" or "stared" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "shaped" and "stared" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "shaped" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stared" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #455,208 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "shaped" and "stared" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "staid vs stared". 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 #455,208 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.