cleanedvscleanestWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: cleaned is a verb, cleanest is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cleaned” is a verb and “cleanest” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,882
“cleaned” frequency rank
#31,108
“cleanest” frequency rank
37990
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cleaned cleanest
Definition simple past and past participle of clean superlative form of clean: most clean

Letter map: cleaned vs cleanest

Shared letters muted; letters that set cleaned and cleanest apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.

7 ch
cleaned
8 ch
cleanest

Grammar separator: cleaned vs cleanest

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cleaned is averb and cleanestanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cleaned is recorded at frequency rank #6,882, classified as averb, pronounced /kliːnd/. cleanest is at rank #31,108, 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 37990, this pair ranks #289,784 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cleaned vs cleanest

Shared letters: aceln. Private to "cleaned": d. Private to "cleanest": st.

"cleaned" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "cleanest" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cleanedccleaned · celaned · claened · cleaend · cleande · cleanedd · cleanned · clenaed
  • cleanestccleanest · celanest · claenest · cleaenst · cleanesst · cleanestt · cleanets · cleannest

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cleaned" and "cleanest" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cleaned" is a verb and "cleanest" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cleaned" or "cleanest"?
"cleaned" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,882 in our English list, against #31,108 for "cleanest". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cleaned" and "cleanest".

  • Full dictionary entry for "cleaned" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cleanest" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #289,784 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cleaned" and "cleanest" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cleanest vs clearest". 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 #289,784 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list