Which to use
“cleave” is a verb and “cleve” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,831
- “cleave” frequency rank
- #47,535
- “cleve” frequency rank
- 82366
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cleave | cleve |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument. | A room; chamber. |
Letter map: cleave vs cleve
Shared letters muted; letters that set cleave and cleve apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. cleave runs 6 letters (CCVVCV) against cleve's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Role in the sentence - cleave and cleve
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cleave is averb and cleveanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82366, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cleave is recorded at frequency rank #34,831, classified as averb, pronounced /kliːv/. cleve is at rank #47,535, tagged as anoun.
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 82366, this pair ranks #15,838 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cleave vs cleve
Shared letters: celv. Private to "cleave": a. Private to "cleve": -.
"cleave" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "cleve" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cleave" and "cleve" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "cleave" or "cleve" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cleave" and "cleve".
- Full dictionary entry for "cleave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cleve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #15,838 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cleave" and "cleve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cleaved vs cleve". 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 #15,838 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.