Which to use
“spared” and “starred” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,330
- “spared” frequency rank
- #11,125
- “starred” frequency rank
- 23455
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spared | starred |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of spare | simple past and past participle of star |
Letter map: spared vs starred
Shared letters muted; letters that set spared and starred apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.
Spelling & dictionary notes on spared vs starred
spared and starred are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23455, 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/. starred is at rank #11,125, tagged as averb.
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 23455, this pair ranks #409,140 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spared vs starred
Shared letters: aders. Private to "spared": p. Private to "starred": t.
"spared" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "starred" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spared" for "starred" ever safe?
Frequency check: "spared" vs "starred" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "spared" and "starred".
- Full dictionary entry for "spared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "starred" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #409,140 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spared" and "starred" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stapled vs starred". 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 #409,140 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.