Which to use
“spared” and “stayed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,330
- “spared” frequency rank
- #2,864
- “stayed” frequency rank
- 15194
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spared | stayed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of spare | simple past and past participle of stay |
Where the eye mixes spared and stayed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses spared with stayed
A purely visual mix-up. spared (/ˈspɛɹd/) 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 15194, 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/. 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 15194, this pair ranks #465,485 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of spared vs stayed
Shared letters: ades. Private to "spared": pr. Private to "stayed": ty.
"spared" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "stayed" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spared" for "stayed" ever safe?
Frequency check: "spared" vs "stayed" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "spared" and "stayed" 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 "stayed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #465,485 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spared" and "stayed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "snares vs spared". 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 #465,485 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.