Which to use
“caper” and “clapper” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,418
- “caper” frequency rank
- #31,917
- “clapper” frequency rank
- 66335
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caper | clapper |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A playful leap or jump. | One who claps; a person who applauds by clapping the hands. |
Where the eye mixes caper and clapper
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses caper with clapper
A purely visual mix-up. caper (/ˈkeɪpɚ/) and clapper (/ˈklæpɚ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66335, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caper is recorded at frequency rank #34,418, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkeɪpɚ/. clapper is at rank #31,917, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈklæpɚ/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 66335, this pair ranks #68,504 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of caper vs clapper
Shared letters: acepr. Private to "caper": -. Private to "clapper": l.
"caper" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "clapper" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "caper" and "clapper" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "caper" vs "clapper" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "caper" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clapper" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,504 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caper" and "clapper" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caper vs cower". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #68,504 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.