Which to use
“cleave” is a verb and “crease” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,831
- “cleave” frequency rank
- #19,303
- “crease” frequency rank
- 54134
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cleave | crease |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To split or sever something with, or as if with, a sharp instrument. | A line or mark made by folding or doubling any pliable substance; hence, a similar mark, however produced. |
Where the eye mixes cleave and crease
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cleave and crease follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between cleave and crease
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cleave is /kliːv/ while crease is /kɹiːs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54134, 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/. crease is at rank #19,303, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹiːs/.
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 54134, this pair ranks #143,419 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cleave vs crease
Shared letters: ace. Private to "cleave": lv. Private to "crease": rs.
"cleave" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "crease" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cleave" and "crease" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cleave" or "crease"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cleave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crease" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #143,419 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cleave" and "crease" 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 #143,419 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.