staff

/stɑːf/

//stɑːf// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"staff" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“staff” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #888. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#888
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.

Corpus desk

Index EN-staff · staff · English

staff · rank #888 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #888
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH simply

Nearest frequency peer: simply (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “staff”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “staff” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

staff vs stay
60% similar
staff vs star
60% similar
staff vs stan
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for staff
PropertyValue
Headwordstaff
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/stɑːf/
Letters5
Frequency rank#888
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “staff”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).stafflands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “simply” (#887), “super” (#889), “simple” (#886). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “staff” is #888. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around staff (IPA /stɑːf/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #888 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for staff, with forms such as "satff", "sstaff", and "staf". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "stay", "star", "stan", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf (“letter of the alphabet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stab, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz. Cognate with Dutch staf, German Stab, Swedish stav. Sense of "group of military officers that assists a commander" and s… The correct English form is staff, spelled S-T-A-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.
  2. 2
    A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written; a stave.
  3. 3
    The employees of a business.
  4. 4
    A mixture of plaster and fibre used as a temporary exterior wall covering.ᵂ
  5. 5
    A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office.
  6. 6
    A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.
  7. 7
    The rung of a ladder.
  8. 8
    A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.
  9. 9
    An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.
  10. 10
    The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.
  11. 11
    An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution.
  12. 12
    A form of token once used, in combination with a ticket, for safe train movements between two points on a single line.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how staff appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. And thus ſhall ye eate it [the lamb]: with your loines girded, your ſhooes on your feet, and your ſtaffe in your hand: and ye ſhall eate it in haſte: it is the Lords Paſſeouer.
  2. The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff.

Etymology

From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf (“letter of the alphabet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stab, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz. Cognate with Dutch staf, German Stab, Swedish stav. Sense of "group of military officers that assists a commander" and similar meanings, attested from 1702, is influenced by or is even from German Stab.

Synonyms

stickstavepersonnel

This word in other languages

bastón(Español)bâton(Français)Stab(Deutsch)cajado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • satff
  • sstaff
  • staf
  • stfaf
  • sttaff
  • tsaff

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of staff - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

satff2sstaff1staf1stfaf2sttaff1tsaff2
Edit distance from "staff"

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

How do you spell "staff"?
"staff" is spelled S-T-A-F-F. The IPA pronunciation is /stɑːf/.
What does "staff" mean?
As a noun, "staff" means: A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.
What words are commonly confused with "staff"?
"staff" is commonly confused with "stay", "star", "stan". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "staff"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "staff" is /stɑːf/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "staff"?
From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf (“letter of the alphabet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stab, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz. Cognate with Dutch staf, German Stab, Swedish stav. Sense of "group of military officers that assists a comman... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "staff", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

super#889union#890seven#884began#894

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

walk6 variantspick6 variantsvoice6 variantsarmy6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list