Which to use
“closes” is a verb and “cloths” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,541
- “closes” frequency rank
- #25,705
- “cloths” frequency rank
- 33246
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | closes | cloths |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | third-person singular simple present indicative of close | plural of cloth |
Where the eye mixes closes and cloths
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. closes (CCVCVC) and cloths (CCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses closes with cloths
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: closes is /ˈkloʊzɪz/ while cloths is /klɒθs/. 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 33246, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
closes is recorded at frequency rank #7,541, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈkloʊzɪz/. cloths is at rank #25,705, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klɒθs/.
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 33246, this pair ranks #331,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of closes vs cloths
Shared letters: clos. Private to "closes": e. Private to "cloths": ht.
"closes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "cloths" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "closes" for "cloths" ever safe?
Which is more common, "closes" or "cloths"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "closes" and "cloths" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "closes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cloths" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #331,089 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "closes" and "cloths" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Clos vs cloths". 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 #331,089 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.