starch

/stɑɹt͡ʃ/

//stɑɹt͡ʃ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“starch” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,706. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,706
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A widely diffused vegetable substance, found in seeds, bulbs and tubers, as extracted (e.g. from potatoes, corn, rice, etc.) in the form of a white, glistening, granular or powdery substance, witho...

Corpus desk

Index EN-starch · starch · English

starch · rank #19,706 · 10 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,706
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stacking

Nearest frequency peer: stacking (-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 “starch”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “starch” 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).

starch vs start
67% similar
starch vs stars
67% similar
starch vs stark
67% similar

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

Key facts for starch
PropertyValue
Headwordstarch
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/stɑɹt͡ʃ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#19,706
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “starch”

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).starchlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “stacking” (#19,705), “stony” (#19,707), “stabilization” (#19,704). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “starch” is #19,706. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around starch (IPA /stɑɹt͡ʃ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #19,706 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for starch, with forms such as "satrch", "sstarch", and "stacrh". 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, "start", "stars", "stark", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English starche, sterche, from Old English *stierċe (“stiffness, rigidity, strength”), from Proto-West Germanic *starkī (“stiffness, rigidity, fortitude, strength”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sterg- (“stiff, rigid”). Cognate with dial… The correct English form is starch, spelled S-T-A-R-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A widely diffused vegetable substance, found in seeds, bulbs and tubers, as extracted (e.g. from potatoes, corn, rice, etc.) in the form of a white, glistening, granular or powdery substance, without taste or smell, and giving a very peculiar creaking sound when rubbed between the fingers. It is used as a food, in the production of commercial grape sugar, for stiffening linen in laundries, in making paste, etc.
  2. 2
    Carbohydrates, as with grain and potato based foods.
  3. 3
    A stiff, formal manner; formality.
  4. 4
    Fortitude.
  5. 5
    Any of various starch-like substances used as a laundry stiffener.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Meronym: saccharide
  2. The various elements found in food are the following: Starch, sugar, fats, albumen, mineral substances, indigestible substances.

Etymology

From Middle English starche, sterche, from Old English *stierċe (“stiffness, rigidity, strength”), from Proto-West Germanic *starkī (“stiffness, rigidity, fortitude, strength”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sterg- (“stiff, rigid”). Cognate with dialectal Dutch sterk (“strong”), Middle Low German sterke (“strength”), German Stärke (“strength", also "starch”), Swedish stärkelse (“starch”), Icelandic sterkja (“starch”). Related to English stark (“stiff, strong, vigorous, powerful”).

This word in other languages

almidón(Español)amidon(Français)Stärke(Deutsch)fécula(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • satrch
  • sstarch
  • stacrh
  • starcch
  • starchh
  • starhc
  • starrch
  • strach
  • sttarch
  • tsarch

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

satrch2sstarch1stacrh2starcch1starchh1starhc2starrch1strach2
Edit distance from "starch"

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 "starch"?
"starch" is spelled S-T-A-R-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is /stɑɹt͡ʃ/.
What does "starch" mean?
As a noun, "starch" means: A widely diffused vegetable substance, found in seeds, bulbs and tubers, as extracted (e.g. from potatoes, corn, rice, etc.) in the form of a white, glistening, granular or powdery substance, witho...
What words are commonly confused with "starch"?
"starch" is commonly confused with "start", "stars", "stark". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "starch"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "starch" is /stɑɹt͡ʃ/. 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 "starch"?
From Middle English starche, sterche, from Old English *stierċe (“stiffness, rigidity, strength”), from Proto-West Germanic *starkī (“stiffness, rigidity, fortitude, strength”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sterg- (“stiff, rigid”). Cognate... 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 "starch", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

subtly#19,709surfer#19,711waffle#19,734reaper#19,677

Similar misspelling depth

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

satanic10 variantsrounder10 variantsprepaid10 variantsprelude10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list