Which to use
“spared” and “stared” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,330
- “spared” frequency rank
- #13,065
- “stared” frequency rank
- 25395
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spared | stared |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of spare | simple past and past participle of stare |
Where the eye mixes spared and stared
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: spared vs stared
A purely visual mix-up. spared (/ˈspɛɹd/) and stared (/stɛɹd/) 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 a single letter - p in “spared” becomes t in “stared”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25395, 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/. 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 25395, this pair ranks #394,586 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spared vs stared
Shared letters: aders. Private to "spared": p. Private to "stared": t.
"spared" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "stared" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spared" for "stared" ever safe?
Frequency check: "spared" vs "stared" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "spared" 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 #394,586 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spared" 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 #394,586 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.