Which to use
“clapper” is a noun and “clasped” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,917
- “clapper” frequency rank
- #48,142
- “clasped” frequency rank
- 80059
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clapper | clasped |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | One who claps; a person who applauds by clapping the hands. | simple past and past participle of clasp |
Where the eye mixes clapper and clasped
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses clapper with clasped
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clapper is /ˈklæpɚ/ while clasped is /klæspt/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80059, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clapper is recorded at frequency rank #31,917, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈklæpɚ/. 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 80059, this pair ranks #20,656 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of clapper vs clasped
Shared letters: acelp. Private to "clapper": r. Private to "clasped": ds.
"clapper" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "clasped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clapper" for "clasped" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "clapper" or "clasped" show up more?
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 "clapper" 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 #20,656 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clapper" 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 #20,656 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.