statvsstunWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: stat is a adverb, stun is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stat” is an adverb and “stun” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,748
“stat” frequency rank
#17,969
“stun” frequency rank
25717
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stat stun
Definition Immediately; now. To incapacitate; especially by inducing disorientation or unconsciousness.

Where the eye mixes stat and stun

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
stat
4 ch
stun

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stat is /stæt/ while stun is /stʌn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25717, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stat is recorded at frequency rank #7,748, classified as anadv, pronounced /stæt/. stun is at rank #17,969, tagged as averb, pronounced /stʌn/.

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 25717, this pair ranks #392,184 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of stat vs stun

Shared letters: st. Private to "stat": a. Private to "stun": nu.

"stat" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "stun" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • statsatt · sstat · statt · stta · sttat · tsat
  • stunsstun · stnu · sttun · stunn · sutn · tsun

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stat" and "stun" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stat" is an adverb and "stun" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "stat" or "stun"?
"stat" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,748 in our English list, against #17,969 for "stun". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list