# stale vs staple

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### stale
*adjective · IPA /steɪl/ · frequency rank #16,589*
Clear, free of dregs and lees; old and strong.

### staple
*noun · IPA /ˈsteɪ.pəl/ · frequency rank #11,611*
A town containing merchants who have exclusive right, under royal authority, to purchase or produce certain goods for export; also, the body of such merchants seen as a group.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/stale-vs-staple