Which to use
“clues” and “cue” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,300
- “clues” frequency rank
- #10,351
- “cue” frequency rank
- 19651
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clues | cue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of clue | The name of the Latin script letter Q/q. |
Where the eye mixes clues and cue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: clues vs cue
A purely visual mix-up. clues (/kluːz/) and cue (/ˈkjuː/) 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 19651, 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/. cue is at rank #10,351, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkjuː/.
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 19651, this pair ranks #436,679 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clues vs cue
Shared letters: ceu. Private to "clues": ls. Private to "cue": -.
"clues" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "cue" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- clues ← cclues · cleus · cllues · cluess · cluse · cules · lcues
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clues" and "cue" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "clues" or "cue" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "clues" and "cue" 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 "cue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #436,679 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clues" and "cue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CGT vs cue". 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 #436,679 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.