Which to use
“clip” is a verb and “cup” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,586
- “clip” frequency rank
- #805
- “cup” frequency rank
- 5391
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clip | cup |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To grip tightly. | A concave vessel for drinking, usually made of opaque material (as opposed to a glass) and with a handle. |
Where the eye mixes clip and cup
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clip and cup
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clip is /klɪp/ while cup is /kʌp/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5391, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clip is recorded at frequency rank #4,586, classified as averb, pronounced /klɪp/. cup is at rank #805, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kʌp/.
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 5391, this pair ranks #515,519 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clip vs cup
Shared letters: cp. Private to "clip": il. Private to "cup": u.
"clip" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "cup" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clip ← cclip · cilp · clipp · cllip · clpi · lcip
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clip" and "cup" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "clip" vs "cup" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "clip" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cup" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #515,519 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clip" and "cup" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCI vs clip". 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 #515,519 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.