Which to use
“cleave” and “crave” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,831
- “cleave” frequency rank
- #15,595
- “crave” frequency rank
- 50426
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cleave | crave |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument. | To desire strongly, so as to satisfy an appetite; to long or yearn for. |
Where the eye mixes cleave and crave
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cleave runs 6 letters (CCVVCV) against crave's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: cleave vs crave
A purely visual mix-up. cleave (/kliːv/) and crave (/kɹeɪv/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50426, 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/. crave is at rank #15,595, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɹeɪv/.
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 50426, this pair ranks #174,369 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cleave vs crave
Shared letters: acev. Private to "cleave": l. Private to "crave": r.
"cleave" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "crave" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cleave" and "crave" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cleave" vs "crave" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "cleave" and "crave" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "cleave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crave" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #174,369 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cleave" and "crave" 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 #174,369 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.