casedvsclaspedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“cased” and “clasped” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,121
“cased” frequency rank
#48,142
“clasped” frequency rank
96263
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cased clasped
Definition simple past and past participle of case simple past and past participle of clasp

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cased and clasped apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
cased
7 ch
clasped

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cased (/keɪst/) and clasped (/klæspt/) 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 96263, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cased is recorded at frequency rank #48,121, classified as averb, pronounced /keɪst/. clasped is at rank #48,142, tagged as averb, pronounced /klæspt/.

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 96263, this pair ranks #607 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cased vs clasped

Shared letters: acdes. Private to "cased": -. Private to "clasped": lp.

"cased" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "clasped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • casedacsed · caesd · casde · casedd · cassed · ccased · csaed
  • claspedcalsped · cclasped · clapsed · clasepd · claspde · claspedd · claspped · classped

Frequency comparison

cased#48,121
clasped#48,142

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cased" and "clasped" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/keɪst/ versus /klæspt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cased" or "clasped"?
"cased" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #48,121 in our English list, against #48,142 for "clasped". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cased vs clasped

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cased” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list