Definition of STAUNCH

Choose the Right Synonym for staunch

Adjective

faithful, loyal, constant, staunch, steadfast, resolute mean firm in adherence to whatever one owes allegiance. faithful implies unswerving adherence to a person or thing or to the oath or promise by which a tie was contracted. faithful to her promise loyal implies a firm resistance to any temptation to desert or betray. remained loyal to the czar constant stresses continuing firmness of emotional attachment without necessarily implying strict obedience to promises or vows. constant friends staunch suggests fortitude and resolution in adherence and imperviousness to influences that would weaken it. a staunch defender of free speech steadfast implies a steady and unwavering course in love, allegiance, or conviction. steadfast in their support resolute implies firm determination to adhere to a cause or purpose. a resolute ally

Staunch and Stanch

Both stanch and staunch come from the Anglo-French estancher, meaning “to check or stop the flowing of.” Both have been in use for many hundreds of years. And most dictionaries will list them as having the exact same meaning. They are, in fact, variants of each other. But there's a catch: staunch is more commonly used as an adjective (it has several meanings in this role, including “steadfast in loyalty or principle” and "substantial"), and stanch is more commonly used as a verb (common meanings are "to check or stop the flowing of" and "to stop or check in its course"). Here are example of each in typical use:

a staunch supporter/advocate

staunch resistance/allegiance

to stanch the flow/bleeding

stanching the loss of jobs/revenue

Note that saying that something is more commonly used in some way does not necessarily mean that people who choose to use it in the less common way are wrong. There is a considerable body of evidence, from reputable sources, of staunch and stanch being used in their less common roles.

Some people will tell you that you should always keep these words apart, and if you’d like to do this you may find the following sentence of some assistance in helping you to remember the difference: "A staunch friend would help you stanch a bleeding thumb."

Alternatively, you may rely on the time-honored method of people-who-remember-things-poorly and use this limerick:

Tho’ neither stanch nor staunch must conform
To rigid semantical norm
Some editors will blanch,
When encountering stanch
If it’s used in adjective form

Examples of staunch in a Sentence

Adjective

She is a staunch advocate of women's rights. He's a staunch believer in the value of regular exercise. I'm one of his staunchest supporters.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

Whether or not Kate and Clarke will cross paths in relation to the campaign is unclear right now, but both women are obviously staunch supporters of the amazing work that individuals in the nursing profession do on a daily basis. — Amy Mackelden, Harper's BAZAAR, "Kate Middleton & Emilia Clarke Share a Special Connection," 16 Mar. 2019 Aside from giving us major #workgoals, Williams is also a staunch supporter of Turner on social media, even going toe-toe with Turner's fiancé Joe Jonas to out-compliment her friend. — Katherine J. Igoe, Marie Claire, "Maisie Williams and Joe Jonas Compete to Give Sophie Turner the Best Instagram Compliment," 7 Feb. 2019 What's remarkable about the whole thing is that Nielsen has publicly appeared to be one of Trump's staunchest defenders. — Aaron Blake, Washington Post, "The grim desperation of Kirstjen Nielsen," 18 June 2018 Gardner had opposed recreational marijuana before Colorado passed its legalization measure in 2012, but has become one of the law's staunchest defenders. — Kurtis Lee, latimes.com, "Some Republican lawmakers, once critical of marijuana, now think highly of it. Here’s why," 17 Apr. 2018 Despite staunch denials from Damascus and Moscow, the UN has accused the Syrian regime of using chemical weapons against its own citizens more than two dozen times. — Hollie Mckay, Fox News, "Syrians in Idlib brace for chemical weapons attack, ground invasion by Assad forces," 10 Sep. 2018 By the time Rosie came on the show three years later, Elisabeth was known as the staunch conservative voice on the panel. — Kayla Keegan, Good Housekeeping, "What Really Happened on 'The View' Between Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Rosie O'Donnell," 27 Mar. 2019 Her narrow defeat has fueled talk of a likely challenge in 2020 against Perdue, a first-term senator and staunch Trump ally. — Tamar Hallerman, The Seattle Times, "‘Terrified’ Stacey Abrams prepares to counterpunch Trump’s State of Union," 5 Feb. 2019 Trump is a staunch advocate of strong counterterrorism authorities. — Shane Harris, Washington Post, "Trump falsely links NSA counterterrorism program to Mueller probe," 3 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'staunch.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.