stick by

verb

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

The verdict

“stick by” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - to follow or adhere to somebody or something, to remain loyal and unswerving in one's attitude towards somebody or something

Key facts for stick by
PropertyValue
Headwordstick by
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “stick by” sits in English frequency

stick by falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for stick by is 8 letters long, classified as a verb. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "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

  1. 1
    to follow or adhere to somebody or something, to remain loyal and unswerving in one's attitude towards somebody or something

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "stick by"?
"stick by" is spelled S-T-I-C-K- -B-Y.
What does "stick by" mean?
As a verb, "stick by" means: to follow or adhere to somebody or something, to remain loyal and unswerving in one's attitude towards somebody or something
What language does "stick by" come from?
"stick by" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “stick by”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-T-I-C-K- -B-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list