What does staunch mean?
Word: Staunch
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Staunch means strongly faithful to a person, team or belief and not easily changed.
Synonyms: firm
How do you spell staunch?
Syllables: staunch
Tricky part: The vowel sound is spelt au, which pupils often replace with o or aw. Stawnch and stonch are both common slips.
Watch out for: stonch, stawnch, starnch
Memory tip: My aunt is a staunch fan of cricket: the au of aunt is the au you need here.
Staunch in a sentence
Example 1: Asha has been a staunch friend ever since our days in Class 2.
Example 2: As a staunch fan of Indian hockey, Uncle Harpreet never misses a match on television.
Example 3: My grandmother remains a staunch believer in writing letters by hand.
Fun Fact
The word came from an Old French word meaning watertight. A staunch ship was one that kept the sea out, and the sense of being firm and reliable grew from that idea.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Although the visiting team played brilliantly, every stauntch supporter of our school stayed in the stands until the final whistle and cheered the exhausted players off the field.
a) whistle
b) brilliantly
c) exhausted
d) stauntch
Show answer
d) stauntch. No t sits between the n and the c.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
My grandfather has been a hucnast supporter of the local club for forty years.
a) stylish
b) strange
c) staunch
d) sturdy
Show answer
c) staunch. Only one option has a c, and so does the jumble.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word staunch as used in the sentence:
Mira has always been a staunch ally of the school's recycling club.
a) committed
b) disloyal
c) steadfast
d) devoted
Show answer
b) disloyal. A disloyal person lets others down, the reverse of someone who stands by them.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is correct. Choose the meaning of that word.
1. staunch 2. humbel 3. reliabel 4. gennerous
a) able to be trusted
b) not thinking you are better than others
c) giving more than is expected
d) never wavering in your support
Show answer
d) never wavering in your support. Reliable, generous and humble are the correct forms, so staunch is the one spelt right.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which behaviour shows a staunch cricket fan?
a) switching teams after one bad result
b) cheering for the team through a losing season
c) watching only when the team is winning
d) leaving the ground well before the end
Show answer
b) cheering for the team through a losing season
2. A "staunch opponent of plastic bags" is someone who does what?
a) argues against them firmly and always
b) has never heard of them at all
c) uses them whenever it is convenient
d) is slowly changing to their side
Show answer
a) argues against them firmly and always
