staunch

/stɔːn(t)ʃ/

//stɔːn(t)ʃ// adj

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

"staunch" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“staunch” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #22,515. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#22,515
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.

Corpus desk

Index EN-staunch · staunch · English

staunch · rank #22,515 · 11 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #22,515
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sprays

Nearest frequency peer: sprays (-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 “staunch”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “staunch” 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).

staunch vs stench
71% similar
staunch vs staunchly
78% similar
staunch vs stance
71% similar

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

Key facts for staunch
PropertyValue
Headwordstaunch
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/stɔːn(t)ʃ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#22,515
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “staunch”

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).staunchlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “sprays” (#22,514), “stiffness” (#22,516), “spiderman” (#22,513). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “staunch” is #22,515. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around staunch (IPA /stɔːn(t)ʃ/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #22,515 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for staunch, with forms such as "satunch", "sstaunch", and "stanuch". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "stench", "staunchly", "stance", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English staunch, staunche (“(adjective) in good condition or repair; solidly made, firm; watertight; of a person or wound: not bleeding; certain; intact; (adverb) firmly, soundly”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman estaunche, Old French estan… The correct English form is staunch, spelled S-T-A-U-N-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
  2. 2
    Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
  3. 3
    Strongly built; also, in good or strong condition.
  4. 4
    Staying true to one's aims or principles; firm, resolute, unswerving.
  5. 5
    Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy.
  6. 6
    Dependable, loyal, reliable, trustworthy.
  7. 7
    Cautious, restrained.
  8. 8
    Stubborn, intransigent.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Yet if I knevv, / VVhat Hoope ſhould hold vs ſtaunch from edge to edge / Ath'vvorld [of the world]: I vvould perſue it.
  2. Our Proviſions held out vvell, our Ship vvas ſtaunch, and our Crevv all in good Health; but vve lay in the utmoſt diſtreſs for VVater.

Etymology

From Middle English staunch, staunche (“(adjective) in good condition or repair; solidly made, firm; watertight; of a person or wound: not bleeding; certain; intact; (adverb) firmly, soundly”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman estaunche, Old French estanche (“firm; watertight”) (modern French étanche (“airtight; watertight”)), a variant of estanc (“a pond”), from estanchier (“to stop the flow of a liquid (blood, water, etc.); to make (something) watertight; to quench (thirst)”) (modern French étancher), possibly from one of the following: * From Vulgar Latin *stagnicāre, from Latin stāgnum (“piece of standing water, pond; fen, swamp”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂g- (“to drip; to seep”). * From Vulgar Latin *stānticāre, from *stānticus (“tired”), from Latin stāns, stāntis (“standing; remaining, staying”). Stāns is the present active participle of stō (“to stand; to remain, stay”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”). Cognates * Italian stanco (“bored; tired”) * Portuguese estanque (“watertight”) * Romansh staunza (“a room”) * Spanish estanco (“closed, sealed; airtight; watertight”)

This word in other languages

robusto(Español)fervent(Français)loyal(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • satunch
  • sstaunch
  • stanuch
  • staucnh
  • stauncch
  • staunchh
  • staunhc
  • staunnch
  • sttaunch
  • stuanch
  • tsaunch

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

satunch2sstaunch1stanuch2staucnh2stauncch1staunchh1staunhc2staunnch1
Edit distance from "staunch"

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 "staunch"?
"staunch" is spelled S-T-A-U-N-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is /stɔːn(t)ʃ/.
What does "staunch" mean?
As an adjective, "staunch" means: Not permitting water or some other liquid to escape or penetrate; watertight.
What words are commonly confused with "staunch"?
"staunch" is commonly confused with "stench", "staunchly", "stance". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "staunch"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "staunch" is /stɔːn(t)ʃ/. 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 "staunch"?
From Middle English staunch, staunche (“(adjective) in good condition or repair; solidly made, firm; watertight; of a person or wound: not bleeding; certain; intact; (adverb) firmly, soundly”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman estaunche, Old Fr... 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 "staunch", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

slumber#22,510Terence#22,525Ugandan#22,534warmest#22,548

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

stiffness11 variantsTunisian11 variantsrattling11 variantsWinslow11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list