Which to use
“claustrophobia” is a noun and “claustrophobic” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,254
- “claustrophobia” frequency rank
- #34,830
- “claustrophobic” frequency rank
- 84084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | claustrophobia | claustrophobic |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The abnormal fear of closed, tight places. | Suffering from claustrophobia; being scared of being enclosed in a confined space. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set claustrophobia and claustrophobic apart are highlighted. They share 13 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: claustrophobia is anoun and claustrophobicanadjective. On the page they differ by a single letter - a in “claustrophobia” becomes c in “claustrophobic”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
claustrophobia is recorded at frequency rank #49,254, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˌklɒs.trəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/. claustrophobic is at rank #34,830, tagged as anadj.
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 84084, this pair ranks #12,660 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of claustrophobia vs claustrophobic
Shared letters: abchiloprstu. Private to "claustrophobia": -. Private to "claustrophobic": -.
"claustrophobia" · 14 letters · shape CCVVCCCVCCVCVV · "claustrophobic" · 14 letters · shape CCVVCCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- claustrophobia ← calustrophobia · cclaustrophobia · clasutrophobia · clausrtophobia · clausstrophobia · claustorphobia · claustrohpobia · claustrophboia
- claustrophobic ← calustrophobic · cclaustrophobic · clasutrophobic · clausrtophobic · clausstrophobic · claustorphobic · claustrohpobic · claustrophboic
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "claustrophobia" and "claustrophobic" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "claustrophobia" or "claustrophobic"?
Remembering claustrophobia vs claustrophobic
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “claustrophobia”; for an adjective, it's “claustrophobic”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “claustrophobia” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable