statedvsstaticTell them apart

Quick tell: stated is a verb, static is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“stated” is a verb and “static” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,880
“stated” frequency rank
#6,629
“static” frequency rank
8509
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stated static
Definition simple past and past participle of state Unchanging; that cannot or does not change.

Where the eye mixes stated and static

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
stated
6 ch
static

Visual trap between stated and static

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stated is /ˈsteɪtɪd/ while static is /ˈstæt.ɪk/. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8509, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stated is recorded at frequency rank #1,880, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈsteɪtɪd/. static is at rank #6,629, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈstæt.ɪk/.

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 8509, this pair ranks #502,139 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of stated vs static

Shared letters: ast. Private to "stated": de. Private to "static": ci.

"stated" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "static" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • statedsatted · sstated · staetd · statde · statedd · statted · sttaed · sttated
  • staticsattic · sstatic · staitc · statci · staticc · stattic · sttaic · sttatic

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stated" and "static" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "stated" is a verb and "static" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary English text, does "stated" or "static" show up more?
"stated" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,880 in our English list, against #6,629 for "static". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "stated" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "static" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #502,139 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "stated" and "static" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "staid vs static". 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 #502,139 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