Which to use
“stayed” and “stowed” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,864
- “stayed” frequency rank
- #37,710
- “stowed” frequency rank
- 40574
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stayed | stowed |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of stay | simple past and past participle of stow |
Where the eye mixes stayed and stowed
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses stayed with stowed
A purely visual mix-up. stayed (/steɪd/) and stowed (/stəʊd/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40574, 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/. stowed is at rank #37,710, tagged as averb, pronounced /stəʊd/.
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 40574, this pair ranks #266,321 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stayed vs stowed
Shared letters: dest. Private to "stayed": ay. Private to "stowed": ow.
"stayed" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC · "stowed" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stayed" and "stowed" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "stayed" or "stowed" show up more?
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 "stayed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stowed" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #266,321 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stayed" and "stowed" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stooped vs stowed". 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 #266,321 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.