Staid - stayed

These two homophones - both pronounced IPA: /steɪd/ - are sometimes confused. They shouldn't be.

• Stayed is the commoner word. It is the past tense and the past participle of the verb to stay. Examples: 'he stayed with his parents last night'; 'I have often stayed in Wales'; 'the mast is stayed with guy-ropes against the wind'.

• Staid is the less usual word. It is an adjective with the meaning of 'dull', 'not very exciting', 'set in one' ways'. It might be used with a sense of faint disapproval: 'they live a very staid life - they never go out', or 'it is often believed that librarians are very staid people'.