stab
/stæb/
"stab" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“stab” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,965 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #9,965
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An act of stabbing or thrusting with an object.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | stab |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /stæb/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #9,965 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “stab” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for stab is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /stæb/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,965 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for stab, with forms such as "satb", "sstab", and "stabb". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sub", "STD", "STR", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in Scottish English (compare Scots stob, stobbe, stabb (“a pointed stick or stake; a thrust with a pointed weapon”)), from Middle English stabbe (“a stab”), probably a variant of Middle English stob, stub, stubbe (“pointed stick, stake, thorn… The correct English form is stab, spelled S-T-A-B.
Definition
- 1An act of stabbing or thrusting with an object.
- 2A wound made by stabbing.
- 3Pain inflicted on a person's feelings.
- 4An attempt.
- 5Criticism.
- 6A single staccato chord that adds dramatic impact to a composition.
- 7A bacterial culture made by inoculating a solid medium, such as gelatin, with the puncture of a needle or wire.
Etymology
First attested in Scottish English (compare Scots stob, stobbe, stabb (“a pointed stick or stake; a thrust with a pointed weapon”)), from Middle English stabbe (“a stab”), probably a variant of Middle English stob, stub, stubbe (“pointed stick, stake, thorn, stub, stump”), from Old Norse stobbi, stubbi, cognate with Old English stybb. Cognate with Middle Dutch stobbe. Supposed by some to derive from Scottish Gaelic stob (“to prick, to prod, to push, to thrust”); supposed by others to be from a Scots word.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: satb,sstab,stabb,stba,sttab,tsab
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stab - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “stab”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-A-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /stæb/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “sub” - see the side-by-side comparison. stab vs sub
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.