claimedvsclappedWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“claimed” and “clapped” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,284
“claimed” frequency rank
#25,009
“clapped” frequency rank
27293
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature claimed clapped
Definition simple past and past participle of claim simple past and past participle of clap

Where the eye mixes claimed and clapped

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
claimed
7 ch
clapped

Look-alike desk: claimed vs clapped

A purely visual mix-up. claimed (/kleɪmd/) and clapped (/klæpt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27293, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

claimed is recorded at frequency rank #2,284, classified as averb, pronounced /kleɪmd/. clapped is at rank #25,009, tagged as averb, pronounced /klæpt/.

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 27293, this pair ranks #380,079 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of claimed vs clapped

Shared letters: acdel. Private to "claimed": im. Private to "clapped": p.

"claimed" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "clapped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • claimedcalimed · cclaimed · claiemd · claimde · claimedd · claimmed · clamied · cliamed
  • clappedcalpped · cclapped · claped · clapepd · clappde · clappedd · cllapped · clpaped

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "claimed" and "clapped" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/kleɪmd/ versus /klæpt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "claimed" or "clapped"?
"claimed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,284 in our English list, against #25,009 for "clapped". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "claimed" and "clapped" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "claimed" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clapped" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #380,079 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "claimed" and "clapped" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clapped 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 #380,079 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