Which to use
“spared” and “stare” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,330
- “spared” frequency rank
- #8,211
- “stare” frequency rank
- 20541
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spared | stare |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of spare | To look fixedly (at something). |
Where the eye mixes spared and stare
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between spared and stare
A purely visual mix-up. spared (/ˈspɛɹd/) and stare (/stɛɚ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20541, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spared is recorded at frequency rank #12,330, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈspɛɹd/. stare is at rank #8,211, tagged as averb, pronounced /stɛɚ/.
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 20541, this pair ranks #430,401 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spared vs stare
Shared letters: aers. Private to "spared": dp. Private to "stare": t.
"spared" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "stare" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spared" and "stare" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "spared" vs "stare" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "spared" and "stare" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "spared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stare" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #430,401 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spared" and "stare" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "staph vs stare". 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 #430,401 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.