Which to use
“Clare” is a name and “cleave” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,020
- “Clare” frequency rank
- #34,831
- “cleave” frequency rank
- 46851
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Clare | cleave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A county of Ireland. | To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument. |
Where the eye mixes Clare and cleave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Clare runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against cleave's 6 (CCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses Clare with cleave
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Clare is /klɛə/ while cleave is /kliːv/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46851, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Clare is recorded at frequency rank #12,020, classified as aname, pronounced /klɛə/. cleave is at rank #34,831, tagged as averb, pronounced /kliːv/.
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 46851, this pair ranks #207,856 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Clare vs cleave
Shared letters: acel. Private to "Clare": r. Private to "cleave": v.
"Clare" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "cleave" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Clare" for "cleave" ever safe?
Which is more common, "Clare" or "cleave"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Clare" and "cleave" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Clare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cleave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #207,856 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Clare" and "cleave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cleave vs cleaved". 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 #207,856 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.