Which to use
“stamped” and “stayed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,430
- “stamped” frequency rank
- #2,864
- “stayed” frequency rank
- 16294
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stamped | stayed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of stamp | simple past and past participle of stay |
Where the eye mixes stamped and stayed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: stamped vs stayed
A purely visual mix-up. stamped (/stæmpt/) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16294, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stamped is recorded at frequency rank #13,430, classified as averb, pronounced /stæmpt/. 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 16294, this pair ranks #458,681 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stamped vs stayed
Shared letters: adest. Private to "stamped": mp. Private to "stayed": y.
"stamped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "stayed" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stamped" for "stayed" ever safe?
Frequency check: "stamped" vs "stayed" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "stamped" 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 #458,681 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stamped" and "stayed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stamped vs stooped". 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 #458,681 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.