ceasesvschaserTell them apart

Quick tell: ceases is a verb, chaser is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ceases” is a verb and “chaser” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,872
“ceases” frequency rank
#24,403
“chaser” frequency rank
45275
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ceases chaser
Definition third-person singular simple present indicative of cease Something or someone who chases.

Where the eye mixes ceases and chaser

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ceases (CVVCVC) and chaser (CCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
ceases
6 ch
chaser

Why the eye confuses ceases with chaser

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ceases is /ˈsiːsɪz/ while chaser is /ˈt͡ʃeɪsə/. 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 45275, 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/. chaser is at rank #24,403, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃeɪsə/.

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 45275, this pair ranks #222,764 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ceases vs chaser

Shared letters: aces. Private to "ceases": -. Private to "chaser": hr.

"ceases" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "chaser" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ceases ← caeses · cceases · ceaess · ceasess · ceasses · cesaes · ecases
  • chaser ← cahser · cchaser · chaesr · chaserr · chasre · chasser · chhaser · chsaer

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ceases" and "chaser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ceases" is a verb and "chaser" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ceases" vs "chaser" - which ranks higher?
"ceases" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,872 in our English list, against #24,403 for "chaser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "chaser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #222,764 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ceases" and "chaser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cased vs chaser". 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 #222,764 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list