Which to use
“cates” and “clues” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,123
- “cates” frequency rank
- #9,300
- “clues” frequency rank
- 57423
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cates | clues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Provisions; food; viands; especially, luxurious food; delicacies; dainties. | plural of clue |
Letter map: cates vs clues
Shared letters muted; letters that set cates and clues apart highlighted. Shared run: 3. cates (CVCVC) and clues (CCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Spelling & dictionary notes on cates vs clues
cates and clues are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57423, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cates is recorded at frequency rank #48,123, classified as anoun. clues is at rank #9,300, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kluːz/.
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 57423, this pair ranks #119,376 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cates vs clues
Shared letters: ces. Private to "cates": at. Private to "clues": lu.
"cates" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "clues" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cates" and "clues" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cates" vs "clues" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cates" and "clues".
- Full dictionary entry for "cates" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #119,376 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cates" and "clues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs catty". 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 #119,376 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.