staunch

UK /stɔːn(t)ʃ/adjective, verb, noun

staunch is spelled S-T-A-U-N-C-H: 7 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,362nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “stanch vs staunch” about 590 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, staunch means “Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in staunch?

Letters	7: S-T-A-U-N-C-H
Syllables	1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	1.6 times per million words; the 22,362nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Pairs people search	stanch vs staunch
Rhymes with	haunch
Same letters	canthus

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is staunch?

Staunch appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,362nd most frequent word form in the list.

staunch0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce staunch?

UK /stɔːn(t)ʃ/
British /stoːn(t)ʃ/
/stɔn(t)ʃ/

Staunch has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-staunch.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with staunch

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

stanch vs staunch590 G

Also written: stanch.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with staunch?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as staunch from its last stressed vowel (/ɔnʃ/, British pronunciation):

haunch

Spelled with the same letters in another order: canthus.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of staunch

stauncher comparative
staunchest superlative
staunches present, singular, he/she/it, plural
staunching participle, present
staunched participle, past
stanch

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does staunch mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

1
Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
2
Impermeable to air or other gases; airtight.
3
Strongly built; also, in good or strong condition.
4
Staying true to one's aims or principles; firm, resolute, unswerving.
Without our staunch front line the enemy would have split the regiment.
5
Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy.
He’s been a staunch supporter of mine through every election.
6
Of a hunting dog: that can be depended on to pick up the scent of, or to mark, game.
7
obsoleteCautious, restrained.
8
Stubborn, intransigent.

noun

1
obsoleteThat which stanches or checks a flow.
2
archaicobsoleteA plant or substance which stops the flow of blood; a styptic.
3
obsoleteAn act of stanching or stopping.
4
Synonym of afterdamp (“suffocating gases present in a coal mine after an explosion caused by firedamp”).
5
Alternative spelling of stanch (“a floodgate by which water is accumulated, for floating a boat over a shallow part of a stream by its release; also, a dam or lock in a river”).

verb

1
Alternative spelling of stanch.