Which to use
“clues” and “cuts” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,300
- “clues” frequency rank
- #3,477
- “cuts” frequency rank
- 12777
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clues | cuts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of clue | plural of cut |
Where the eye mixes clues and cuts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clues and cuts
A purely visual mix-up. clues (/kluːz/) and cuts (/kʌts/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12777, 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/. cuts is at rank #3,477, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kʌts/.
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 12777, this pair ranks #479,624 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clues vs cuts
Shared letters: csu. Private to "clues": el. Private to "cuts": t.
"clues" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "cuts" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clues" and "cuts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "clues" or "cuts" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "clues" and "cuts" 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 "cuts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #479,624 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clues" and "cuts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs clues". 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 #479,624 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.