cleanse
/klɛnz/verb, noun
cleanse is spelled C-L-E-A-N-S-E: 7 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, cleanse means “To free from dirt; to clean, to purify” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in cleanse?
| Letters | 7: C-L-E-A-N-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cleanse?
Cleanse appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cleanse?
- /klɛnz/
Cleanse has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-cleanse.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cleanse?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as cleanse.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: scalene.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of cleanse
- cleanses present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- cleansing participle, present
- cleansed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cleanse mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To free from dirt; to clean, to purify.
- 2
To spiritually purify; to free from guilt or sin; to purge.
- 3
To remove (something seen as unpleasant) from a person, place, or thing.
noun
- 1
An act of cleansing; a purification.
I regularly visit the spa for a massage and a facial cleanse.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cleanse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | reinigen, säubern , Reinigung |
| Portuguese | limpar , purificar |
| Spanish | acendrar, cendrar, aquilatar, acrisolar |
| French | purifier |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cleanse come from?
From Middle English clensen, from Old English clǣnsian, from Proto-West Germanic *klainisōn, from Proto-West Germanic *klainī (“clean”). Cognate with West Frisian klinzgje (“to clean, cleanse”), archaic Dutch kleinzen (“to clean, purify”), Middle Low German klênsen, kleinsen, clensen (“to purify”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).