Which to use
“ceased” and “clasped” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,450
- “ceased” frequency rank
- #48,142
- “clasped” frequency rank
- 57592
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ceased | clasped |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of cease | simple past and past participle of clasp |
Where the eye mixes ceased and clasped
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. ceased runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against clasped's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between ceased and clasped
A purely visual mix-up. ceased (/siːst/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ceased is recorded at frequency rank #9,450, classified as averb, pronounced /siːst/. 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 57592, this pair ranks #118,305 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ceased vs clasped
Shared letters: acdes. Private to "ceased": -. Private to "clasped": lp.
"ceased" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "clasped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ceased" and "clasped" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ceased" or "clasped"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ceased" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clasped" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #118,305 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ceased" and "clasped" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cased vs clasped". 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 #118,305 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.