Which to use
“clump” and “cusp” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,110
- “clump” frequency rank
- #27,112
- “cusp” frequency rank
- 58222
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clump | cusp |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A cluster or lump; an unshaped piece or mass. | A sharp point or pointed end. |
Where the eye mixes clump and cusp
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clump and cusp
A purely visual mix-up. clump (/klʌmp/) and cusp (/kʌsp/) 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 58222, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clump is recorded at frequency rank #31,110, classified as anoun, pronounced /klʌmp/. cusp is at rank #27,112, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kʌsp/.
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 58222, this pair ranks #113,979 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of clump vs cusp
Shared letters: cpu. Private to "clump": lm. Private to "cusp": s.
"clump" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "cusp" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clump" and "cusp" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "clump" or "cusp"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "clump" and "cusp" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clump" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cusp" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #113,979 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clump" and "cusp" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chums vs clump". 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 #113,979 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.