stare

/stɛɚ/

//stɛɚ// verb

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

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

The verdict

“stare” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,211. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,211
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To look fixedly (at something).

Corpus desk

Index EN-stare · stare · English

stare · rank #8,211 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,211
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stamps

Nearest frequency peer: stamps (-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 “stare”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “stare” 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).

stare vs STR
0% similar
stare vs sure
60% similar
stare vs stay
60% similar

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

Key facts for stare
PropertyValue
Headwordstare
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/stɛɚ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,211
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “stare”

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).starelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “stamps” (#8,210), “suburban” (#8,212), “sung” (#8,213). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stare” is #8,211. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around stare (IPA /stɛɚ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #8,211 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for stare, with forms such as "satre", "sstare", and "staer". 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, "STR", "sure", "stay", 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 staren, from Old English starian (“to stare”), from Proto-West Germanic *starēn, from Proto-Germanic *starjaną, *starāną (“to be fixed, be rigid”), from Proto-Indo-European *ster-. Cognate with Dutch staren (“to stare”), German starren (… The correct English form is stare, spelled S-T-A-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To look fixedly (at something).
  2. 2
    To influence in some way by looking fixedly.
  3. 3
    To be very conspicuous on account of size, prominence, colour, or brilliancy.
  4. 4
    To stand out; to project; to bristle.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. She found him staring with raised eyebrows at her.
  2. Her sturdy stallion had now unbutton'd, and produced naked, stiff, and erect, that wonderful machine, which I had never seen before, and which, for the interest my own seat of pleasure began to take furiously in it, I star'd at with all the eyes I had

Etymology

From Middle English staren, from Old English starian (“to stare”), from Proto-West Germanic *starēn, from Proto-Germanic *starjaną, *starāną (“to be fixed, be rigid”), from Proto-Indo-European *ster-. Cognate with Dutch staren (“to stare”), German starren (“to stare”), German starr (“stiff”). More at start.

Synonyms

gawgloarglomstare

This word in other languages

vichar(Español)fixer(Français)starren(Deutsch)fitar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • satre
  • sstare
  • staer
  • starre
  • strae
  • sttare
  • tsare

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of stare - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

satre2sstare1staer2starre1strae2sttare1tsare2
Edit distance from "stare"

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 "stare"?
"stare" is spelled S-T-A-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /stɛɚ/.
What does "stare" mean?
As a verb, "stare" means: To look fixedly (at something).
What words are commonly confused with "stare"?
"stare" is commonly confused with "STR", "sure", "stay". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "stare"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stare" is /stɛɚ/. 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 "stare"?
From Middle English staren, from Old English starian (“to stare”), from Proto-West Germanic *starēn, from Proto-Germanic *starjaną, *starāną (“to be fixed, be rigid”), from Proto-Indo-European *ster-. Cognate with Dutch staren (“to stare”), German... 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 "stare", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

skies#8,204Ricky#8,197plaza#8,186paste#8,183

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

balloon7 variantsbeers7 variantsNixon7 variantsboobs7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list