Which to use
“stiff” and “stuffy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,357
- “stiff” frequency rank
- #28,035
- “stuffy” frequency rank
- 36392
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stiff | stuffy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible. | Poorly ventilated; partially plugged. |
Where the eye mixes stiff and stuffy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. stiff runs 5 letters (CCVCC) against stuffy's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: stiff vs stuffy
A purely visual mix-up. stiff (/stɪf/) and stuffy (/ˈstʌfi/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stiff is recorded at frequency rank #8,357, classified as anadj, pronounced /stɪf/. stuffy is at rank #28,035, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈstʌfi/.
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 36392, this pair ranks #303,602 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stiff vs stuffy
Shared letters: fst. Private to "stiff": i. Private to "stuffy": uy.
"stiff" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "stuffy" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "stiff" and "stuffy" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "stiff" or "stuffy"?
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 "stiff" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stuffy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #303,602 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stiff" and "stuffy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stubby vs stuffy". 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 #303,602 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.