statevsstatorWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“state” and “stator” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#163
“state” frequency rank
#44,503
“stator” frequency rank
44666
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature state stator
Definition A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. The stationary part of a motor or other machine.

Letter map: state vs stator

Shared letters muted; letters that set state and stator apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

5 ch
state
6 ch
stator

Pair insight - state / stator

state and stator are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44666, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

state is recorded at frequency rank #163, classified as anoun, pronounced /steɪt/. stator is at rank #44,503, tagged as anoun.

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 44666, this pair ranks #228,430 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of state vs stator

Shared letters: ast. Private to "state": e. Private to "stator": or.

"state" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "stator" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • statesatte · sstate · staet · statte · sttae · sttate · tsate
  • statorsattor · sstator · staotr · statorr · statro · stattor · sttaor · sttator

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "state" and "stator" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "state" vs "stator" - which ranks higher?
"state" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #163 in our English list, against #44,503 for "stator". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

You've compared "state" and "stator". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "state" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stator" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #228,430 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "state" and "stator" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Seaton vs stator". 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 #228,430 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list