Stasi
/ˈstɑːzi/
"stasi" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Stasi” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #37,706 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #37,706
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The Ministry for State Security, secret police and intelligence organization of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
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 | Stasi |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈstɑːzi/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #37,706 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Stasi” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Stasi is 5 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈstɑːzi/. Corpus data places it at rank #37,706 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "The Ministry for State Security, secret police and intelligence organization of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).".
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for Stasi, with forms such as "satsi", "sstasi", and "stais". 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, "STS", "STI", "stay", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From German Stasi, abbreviation of Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (“Ministry for State Security”). The correct English form is Stasi, spelled S-T-A-S-I.
Definition
- 1The Ministry for State Security, secret police and intelligence organization of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
Etymology
From German Stasi, abbreviation of Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (“Ministry for State Security”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: satsi,sstasi,stais,stsai,sttasi,tsasi
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Stasi - 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
How do you spell "Stasi"?
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Using “Stasi”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-T-A-S-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈstɑːzi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “STS” - see the side-by-side comparison. Stasi vs STS
- 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.