Which to use
“clapped” and “clasped” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,009
- “clapped” frequency rank
- #48,142
- “clasped” frequency rank
- 73151
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clapped | clasped |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of clap | simple past and past participle of clasp |
Where the eye mixes clapped and clasped
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: clapped vs clasped
A purely visual mix-up. clapped (/klæpt/) and clasped (/klæspt/) 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 a single letter - p in “clapped” becomes s in “clasped”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clapped is recorded at frequency rank #25,009, classified as averb, pronounced /klæpt/. clasped is at rank #48,142, tagged as averb, pronounced /klæspt/.
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 73151, this pair ranks #40,580 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of clapped vs clasped
Shared letters: acdelp. Private to "clapped": -. Private to "clasped": s.
"clapped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "clasped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clapped" and "clasped" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "clapped" or "clasped"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "clapped" and "clasped" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clapped" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clasped" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,580 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clapped" and "clasped" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cased 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 #40,580 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.