Which to use
“cem” is a noun and “clem” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,608
- “cem” frequency rank
- #29,597
- “clem” frequency rank
- 70205
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cem | clem |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | cemetery | To be hungry; starve. |
Letter map: cem vs clem
Shared letters muted; letters that set cem and clem apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Grammar separator: cem vs clem
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cem is anoun and clemaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cem is recorded at frequency rank #40,608, classified as anoun. clem is at rank #29,597, tagged as averb, pronounced /klɛm/.
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 70205, this pair ranks #51,465 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cem vs clem
Shared letters: cem. Private to "cem": -. Private to "clem": l.
"cem" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "clem" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clem ← cclem · celm · clemm · cllem · clme · lcem
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cem" for "clem" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cem" or "clem"?
After this comparison
You've compared "cem" and "clem". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "cem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clem" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #51,465 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cem" and "clem" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cem vs CGT". 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 #51,465 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.