stick by
"stick-by" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“stick by” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - to follow or adhere to somebody or something, to remain loyal and unswerving in one's attitude towards somebody or something
Corpus desk
Index EN-stick-by · stick by · English
stick by · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | stick by |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “stick by” in English
Rare enough to double-check
stick by is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "to follow or adhere to somebody or something, to remain loyal and unswerving in one's attitude towards somebody or something".
stick by has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is stick by, spelled S-T-I-C-K- -B-Y.
Definition
- 1to follow or adhere to somebody or something, to remain loyal and unswerving in one's attitude towards somebody or something
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how stick by appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
At times we on the inside become a little overbearing on our family and friends (if we have that stick by). It may not be intentional. It sort of "sneaks" in on us and before we realize it we write a negative letter which we later may regret we mailed.
To be loyal means to stick by someone and to prove yourself dependable and reliable. This is what Caleb does, and for that he is rewarded, despite his age of eighty-five.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.