Which to use
“skated” and “stayed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,226
- “skated” frequency rank
- #2,864
- “stayed” frequency rank
- 40090
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | skated | stayed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of skate | simple past and past participle of stay |
Where the eye mixes skated and stayed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses skated with stayed
A purely visual mix-up. skated (/ˈskeɪtɪd/) and stayed (/steɪd/) 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 40090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
skated is recorded at frequency rank #37,226, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈskeɪtɪd/. stayed is at rank #2,864, tagged as averb, pronounced /steɪd/.
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 40090, this pair ranks #270,771 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of skated vs stayed
Shared letters: adest. Private to "skated": k. Private to "stayed": y.
"skated" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "stayed" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "skated" and "stayed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "skated" or "stayed"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "skated" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stayed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #270,771 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "skated" and "stayed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "skated vs skirted". 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 #270,771 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.