Which to use
“cleary” is a noun and “cleave” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,734
- “cleary” frequency rank
- #34,831
- “cleave” frequency rank
- 65565
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cleary | cleave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A clear marble (sphere used in games), usually colored, but without decoration or design. | To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument. |
Letter map: cleary vs cleave
Shared letters muted; letters that set cleary and cleave apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. cleary and cleave follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Role in the sentence - cleary and cleave
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cleary is anoun and cleaveaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65565, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cleary is recorded at frequency rank #30,734, classified as anoun. 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 65565, this pair ranks #72,131 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cleary vs cleave
Shared letters: acel. Private to "cleary": ry. Private to "cleave": v.
"cleary" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "cleave" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cleary" and "cleave" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "cleary" or "cleave" show up more?
After this comparison
Pair "cleary" vs "cleave" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "cleary" 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 #72,131 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cleary" 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 #72,131 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.