Which to use
“clique” and “clue” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,784
- “clique” frequency rank
- #5,306
- “clue” frequency rank
- 29090
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clique | clue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A small, exclusive group of individuals, usually according to lifestyle or social status; a cabal. | A strand of yarn etc. as used to guide one through a labyrinth; something which points the way, a guide. |
Where the eye mixes clique and clue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. clique runs 6 letters (CCVCVV) against clue's 4 (CCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between clique and clue
A purely visual mix-up. clique (/kliːk/) and clue (/kluː/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29090, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clique is recorded at frequency rank #23,784, classified as anoun, pronounced /kliːk/. clue is at rank #5,306, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kluː/.
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 29090, this pair ranks #365,900 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clique vs clue
Shared letters: celu. Private to "clique": iq. Private to "clue": -.
"clique" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV · "clue" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clique" and "clue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "clique" or "clue" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "clique" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #365,900 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clique" and "clue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cinque vs clique". 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 #365,900 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.