Which to use
“staph” and “starch” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,070
- “staph” frequency rank
- #19,706
- “starch” frequency rank
- 68776
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | staph | starch |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Staphylococcus bacteria and the infection it causes. | A widely diffused vegetable substance, found in seeds, bulbs and tubers, as extracted (e.g. from potatoes, corn, rice, etc.) in the form of a white, glistening, granular or powdery substance, without taste or smell, and giving a very peculiar creaking sound when rubbed between the fingers. It is used as a food, in the production of commercial grape sugar, for stiffening linen in laundries, in making paste, etc. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set staph and starch apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
staph and starch 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 68776, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
staph is recorded at frequency rank #49,070, classified as anoun, pronounced /stæf/. starch is at rank #19,706, tagged as anoun, pronounced /stɑɹt͡ʃ/.
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 68776, this pair ranks #57,373 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "staph" and "starch" be used interchangeably?
Remembering staph vs starch
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 “staph” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable