# spare

> English word · Adjective · IPA /spɛə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #4,490

## Definitions
1. Extra.
2. Extra.
3. Extra.
4. Not plentiful.
5. Not plentiful.
6. Not plentiful.
7. Not plentiful.
8. Very angry; frustrated or distraught.

## Etymology
From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-.
Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).

## Easily confused with
- **SPR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-spr)
- **sure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-sure)
- **star** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-star)
- **spur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-spur)
- **spat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-spat)
- **spas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-spas)
- **state** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-state)
- **start** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-start)
- **stage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-stage)
- **store** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-store)
- **stars** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-stars)
- **sport** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-sport)
- **spoke** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-spoke)
- **stake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-stake)
- **spite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-spite)
- **stark** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-stark)
- **Spurs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-spurs)
- **spark** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-spark)
- **spike** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-spike)
- **spice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spare-vs-spice)

## Common misspellings (7)
`psare`, `sapre`, `spaer`, `sparre`, `sppare`, `sprae`, `sspare`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spare