Which to use
“clearer” is a noun and “cleave” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,665
- “clearer” frequency rank
- #34,831
- “cleave” frequency rank
- 45496
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clearer | cleave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Someone who or something which clears. | To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument. |
Where the eye mixes clearer and cleave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. clearer runs 7 letters (CCVVCVC) against cleave's 6 (CCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between clearer and cleave
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clearer is /ˈklɪəɹə/ while cleave is /kliːv/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45496, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clearer is recorded at frequency rank #10,665, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɪəɹə/. cleave is at rank #34,831, tagged as averb, pronounced /kliːv/.
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 45496, this pair ranks #220,751 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clearer vs cleave
Shared letters: acel. Private to "clearer": r. Private to "cleave": v.
"clearer" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "cleave" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clearer" for "cleave" ever safe?
Which is more common, "clearer" or "cleave"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "clearer" and "cleave" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clearer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cleave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #220,751 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clearer" and "cleave" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cleave 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 #220,751 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.