stance

/stæns/

//stæns// noun

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

"stance" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“stance” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,627. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,627
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The manner, pose, or posture in which one stands.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stance · stance · English

stance · rank #6,627 · 10 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,627
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stack

Nearest frequency peer: stack (-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 “stance”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “stance” 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).

stance vs state
67% similar
stance vs stand
67% similar
stance vs stone
67% similar

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

Key facts for stance
PropertyValue
Headwordstance
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/stæns/
Letters6
Frequency rank#6,627
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “stance”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).stancelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “stack” (#6,626), “speeds” (#6,625), “static” (#6,629). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stance” is #6,627. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around stance (IPA /stæns/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #6,627 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for stance, with forms such as "satnce", "sstance", and "stacne". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "state", "stand", "stone", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English staunce (“place to stand; battle station; position; standing in society; circumstance, situation; stanchion”), from Old French estance (“predicament; situation; sojourn, stay”) (compare modern French stance (“stanza; position one stands … The correct English form is stance, spelled S-T-A-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The manner, pose, or posture in which one stands.
  2. 2
    One's opinion or point of view.
  3. 3
    A place to stand; a position, a site, a station.
  4. 4
    A place to stand; a position, a site, a station.
  5. 5
    A place for buses or taxis to await passengers; a bus stop, a taxi rank.
  6. 6
    A place where a fair or market is held; a location where a street trader can carry on business.
  7. 7
    A stanza.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The fencer’s stance showed he was ready to begin.
  2. Stance and gait are best examined with the patient barefoot; meaningful findings can be obtained only if the patient has enough room to walk in. The testing of stance and gait often provides important clues to the type of disease process that is present.

Etymology

From Middle English staunce (“place to stand; battle station; position; standing in society; circumstance, situation; stanchion”), from Old French estance (“predicament; situation; sojourn, stay”) (compare modern French stance (“stanza; position one stands in when golfing”)), from Italian stanza (“room, standing place; stanza”), from Vulgar Latin *stantia, from Latin stō (“to stand; to remain, stay”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”). The word is cognate with Spanish estante (“shelf”) and a doublet of stanza. The verb is derived from the noun. Compare typologically Czech postoj (“stance (the way of holding a body); stance (point of view)”) (cognate via PIE). Also see position, posture.

This word in other languages

postura(Español)position(Français)Einstellung(Deutsch)postura(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • satnce
  • sstance
  • stacne
  • stancce
  • stanec
  • stannce
  • stence
  • stnace
  • sttance
  • tsance

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stance - 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.

satnce2sstance1stacne2stancce1stanec2stannce1stence1stnace2
Edit distance from "stance"

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 "stance"?
"stance" is spelled S-T-A-N-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /stæns/.
What does "stance" mean?
As a noun, "stance" means: The manner, pose, or posture in which one stands.
What words are commonly confused with "stance"?
"stance" is commonly confused with "state", "stand", "stone". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "stance"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stance" is /stæns/. 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 "stance"?
From Middle English staunce (“place to stand; battle station; position; standing in society; circumstance, situation; stanchion”), from Old French estance (“predicament; situation; sojourn, stay”) (compare modern French stance (“stanza; position o... 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 "stance", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

speeds#6,625static#6,629subway#6,630tablet#6,634

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

someday10 variantsshooter10 variantswarfare10 variantsMontana10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list