Which to use
“stayed” is a verb and “steamed” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,864
- “stayed” frequency rank
- #18,702
- “steamed” frequency rank
- 21566
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stayed | steamed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of stay | Cooked by steaming. |
Where the eye mixes stayed and steamed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses stayed with steamed
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stayed is /steɪd/ while steamed is /stiːmd/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21566, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stayed is recorded at frequency rank #2,864, classified as averb, pronounced /steɪd/. steamed is at rank #18,702, tagged as anadj, pronounced /stiːmd/.
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 21566, this pair ranks #422,936 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of stayed vs steamed
Shared letters: adest. Private to "stayed": y. Private to "steamed": m.
"stayed" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC · "steamed" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stayed" for "steamed" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "stayed" or "steamed" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "stayed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "steamed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #422,936 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stayed" and "steamed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "steamed vs stewed". 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 #422,936 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.