Which to use
“ceases” is a verb and “census” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,872
- “ceases” frequency rank
- #5,198
- “census” frequency rank
- 26070
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ceases | census |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of cease | An official count or enumeration of members of a population (not necessarily human), usually residents or citizens in a particular region, often done at regular intervals. |
Where the eye mixes ceases and census
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ceases (CVVCVC) and census (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between ceases and census
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ceases is /ˈsiːsɪz/ while census is /ˈsɛnsəs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26070, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ceases is recorded at frequency rank #20,872, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈsiːsɪz/. census is at rank #5,198, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛnsəs/.
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 26070, this pair ranks #389,421 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ceases vs census
Shared letters: ces. Private to "ceases": a. Private to "census": nu.
"ceases" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "census" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ceases" for "census" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "ceases" or "census" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ceases" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "census" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,421 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ceases" and "census" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs ceases". 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 #389,421 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.