Which to use
“stages” and “statues” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,455
- “stages” frequency rank
- #12,148
- “statues” frequency rank
- 15603
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stages | statues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of stage | plural of statue |
Where the eye mixes stages and statues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses stages with statues
A purely visual mix-up. stages (/ˈsteɪd͡ʒɪz/) and statues (/ˈstæt͡ʃ.uːz/) 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 15603, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stages is recorded at frequency rank #3,455, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsteɪd͡ʒɪz/. statues is at rank #12,148, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈstæt͡ʃ.uːz/.
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 15603, this pair ranks #462,959 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stages vs statues
Shared letters: aest. Private to "stages": g. Private to "statues": u.
"stages" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "statues" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stages" for "statues" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "stages" or "statues" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "stages" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "statues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #462,959 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stages" and "statues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "statues vs staves". 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 #462,959 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.