Which to use
“ceiling” and “cling” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,302
- “ceiling” frequency rank
- #15,130
- “cling” frequency rank
- 20432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ceiling | cling |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The overhead closure of a room. | Fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit. |
Where the eye mixes ceiling and cling
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ceiling vs cling
A purely visual mix-up. ceiling (/ˈsiːlɪŋ/) and cling (/ˈklɪŋ/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ceiling is recorded at frequency rank #5,302, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsiːlɪŋ/. cling is at rank #15,130, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɪŋ/.
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 20432, this pair ranks #431,125 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ceiling vs cling
Shared letters: cgiln. Private to "ceiling": e. Private to "cling": -.
"ceiling" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC · "cling" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ceiling" and "cling" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ceiling" or "cling"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ceiling" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cling" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,125 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ceiling" and "cling" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ceding vs cling". 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 #431,125 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.