Which to use
“cleaned” and “cleanse” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,882
- “cleaned” frequency rank
- #15,586
- “cleanse” frequency rank
- 22468
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cleaned | cleanse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of clean | To free from dirt; to clean, to purify. |
Where the eye mixes cleaned and cleanse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cleaned with cleanse
A purely visual mix-up. cleaned (/kliːnd/) and cleanse (/klɛnz/) 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 22468, 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/. cleanse is at rank #15,586, tagged as averb, pronounced /klɛnz/.
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 22468, this pair ranks #416,362 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cleaned vs cleanse
Shared letters: aceln. Private to "cleaned": d. Private to "cleanse": s.
"cleaned" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "cleanse" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cleaned" and "cleanse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "cleaned" vs "cleanse" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cleaned" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cleanse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #416,362 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cleaned" and "cleanse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cleaned 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 #416,362 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.