Which to use
“stade” and “stead” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,387
- “stade” frequency rank
- #22,826
- “stead” frequency rank
- 64213
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stade | stead |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Synonym of stadion (“former Greek unit of distance”). | The position or function (of someone or something), as taken on by a successor. |
Where the eye mixes stade and stead
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses stade with stead
A purely visual mix-up. stade (/steɪd/) and stead (/stɛd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64213, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stade is recorded at frequency rank #41,387, classified as anoun, pronounced /steɪd/. stead is at rank #22,826, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stɛd/.
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 64213, this pair ranks #78,912 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of stade vs stead
Shared letters: adest. Private to "stade": -. Private to "stead": -.
"stade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "stead" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stade" for "stead" ever safe?
Frequency check: "stade" vs "stead" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "stade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stead" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #78,912 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stade" and "stead" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stade vs staph". 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 #78,912 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.