Which to use
“clasped” and “cramped” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,142
- “clasped” frequency rank
- #20,076
- “cramped” frequency rank
- 68218
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clasped | cramped |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of clasp | simple past and past participle of cramp |
Where the eye mixes clasped and cramped
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. clasped and cramped follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses clasped with cramped
A purely visual mix-up. clasped (/klæspt/) and cramped (/kɹæmpt/) 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 68218, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clasped is recorded at frequency rank #48,142, classified as averb, pronounced /klæspt/. cramped is at rank #20,076, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɹæmpt/.
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 68218, this pair ranks #59,880 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of clasped vs cramped
Shared letters: acdep. Private to "clasped": ls. Private to "cramped": mr.
"clasped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "cramped" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clasped" for "cramped" ever safe?
Frequency check: "clasped" vs "cramped" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "clasped" and "cramped" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clasped" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cramped" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #59,880 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clasped" and "cramped" 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 #59,880 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.