Which to use
“stake” and “star” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,631
- “stake” frequency rank
- #666
- “star” frequency rank
- 6297
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stake | star |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A piece of wood or other material, usually long and slender, pointed at one end so as to be easily driven into the ground as a marker or a support or stay. | Any small, natural and bright dot in the sky, most visible in the night or twilight sky. This sense includes the planets, but it is now sometimes used in exclusion of them due to influence from the technical astronomical sense. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set stake and star apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
stake and star form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stake is recorded at frequency rank #5,631, classified as anoun, pronounced /steɪk/. star is at rank #666, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stɑː(ɹ)/.
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 6297, this pair ranks #511,985 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stake" and "star" be used interchangeably?
Remembering stake vs star
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “stake” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable