Which to use
“clues” and “cores” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,300
- “clues” frequency rank
- #14,499
- “cores” frequency rank
- 23799
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clues | cores |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of clue | plural of core |
Where the eye mixes clues and cores
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. clues (CCVVC) and cores (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: clues vs cores
A purely visual mix-up. clues (/kluːz/) and cores (/kɔːz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23799, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clues is recorded at frequency rank #9,300, classified as anoun, pronounced /kluːz/. cores is at rank #14,499, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɔːz/.
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 23799, this pair ranks #406,674 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clues vs cores
Shared letters: ces. Private to "clues": lu. Private to "cores": or.
"clues" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "cores" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clues" and "cores" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "clues" or "cores"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "clues" and "cores" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clues" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cores" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,674 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clues" and "cores" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cores vs cower". 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 #406,674 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.