Which to use
“cliché” is a noun and “clothe” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,616
- “cliché” frequency rank
- #39,249
- “clothe” frequency rank
- 61865
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cliché | clothe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Something, most often a phrase or expression, that is overused or used outside its original context, so that its original impact and meaning are lost. A trite saying; a platitude. | To adorn or cover with clothing; to dress; to supply clothes or clothing. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cliché and clothe apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cliché is /ˈkliː.ʃeɪ/ while clothe is /ˈkləʊð/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61865, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cliché is recorded at frequency rank #22,616, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkliː.ʃeɪ/. clothe is at rank #39,249, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈkləʊð/.
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 61865, this pair ranks #91,752 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cliché vs clothe
Shared letters: chl. Private to "cliché": ié. Private to "clothe": eot.
"cliché" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "clothe" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- clothe ← cclothe · cllothe · clohte · cloteh · clothhe · clotthe · cltohe · colthe
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cliché" and "clothe" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cliché" or "clothe"?
Remembering cliché vs clothe
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “cliché”; for a verb, it's “clothe”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cliché” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable