Which to use
“cleaved” and “clever” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,255
- “cleaved” frequency rank
- #5,014
- “clever” frequency rank
- 54269
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cleaved | clever |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cleft or cloven. | Nimble with hands or body; dexterous; skillful; adept. |
Where the eye mixes cleaved and clever
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cleaved with clever
A purely visual mix-up. cleaved (/kliːvd/) and clever (/ˈklɛv.ə/) 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 54269, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cleaved is recorded at frequency rank #49,255, classified as anadj, pronounced /kliːvd/. clever is at rank #5,014, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈklɛv.ə/.
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 54269, this pair ranks #142,416 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cleaved vs clever
Shared letters: celv. Private to "cleaved": ad. Private to "clever": r.
"cleaved" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "clever" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cleaved" and "clever" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cleaved" vs "clever" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cleaved" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clever" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #142,416 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cleaved" and "clever" 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 #142,416 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.