clearedvsclearestWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#5,111
“cleared” frequency rank
#27,401
“clearest” frequency rank
32512
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cleared clearest
Definition simple past and past participle of clear superlative form of clear: most clear

Letter map: cleared vs clearest

Shared letters muted; letters that set cleared and clearest apart highlighted. Shared run: 6.

7 ch
cleared
8 ch
clearest

Grammar separator: cleared vs clearest

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cleared is averb and clearestanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32512, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cleared is recorded at frequency rank #5,111, classified as averb, pronounced /klɪɹd/. clearest is at rank #27,401, 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 32512, this pair ranks #337,188 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cleared vs clearest

Shared letters: acelr. Private to "cleared": d. Private to "clearest": st.

"cleared" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "clearest" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clearedccleared · celared · claered · cleaerd · clearde · clearedd · clearred · cleraed
  • clearestcclearest · celarest · claerest · cleaerst · clearesst · clearestt · clearets · clearrest

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cleared" and "clearest" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cleared" is a verb and "clearest" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "cleared" vs "clearest" - which ranks higher?
"cleared" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,111 in our English list, against #27,401 for "clearest". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "cleared" vs "clearest" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cleared" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clearest" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #337,188 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cleared" and "clearest" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "claret 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 #337,188 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