Which to use
“cease” is a verb and “creases” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,769
- “cease” frequency rank
- #41,066
- “creases” frequency rank
- 47835
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cease | creases |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To stop. | plural of crease |
Where the eye mixes cease and creases
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cease runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against creases's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between cease and creases
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cease is /sis/ while creases is /ˈkɹiːsɪz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47835, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cease is recorded at frequency rank #6,769, classified as averb, pronounced /sis/. creases is at rank #41,066, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹiːsɪz/.
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 47835, this pair ranks #198,757 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cease vs creases
Shared letters: aces. Private to "cease": -. Private to "creases": r.
"cease" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "creases" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cease" for "creases" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cease" vs "creases" - 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 "cease" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "creases" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #198,757 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cease" and "creases" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caresses vs creases". 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 #198,757 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.