cleanup
/ˈkliːnʌp/noun
cleanup is spelled C-L-E-A-N-U-P: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “clean-up vs cleanup” about 320 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, cleanup means “The act of cleaning or tidying something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cleanup is cleanups.
How many letters and syllables are in cleanup?
| Letters | 7: C-L-E-A-N-U-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.9 times per million words; the 15,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is cleanup?
Cleanup appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th 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 cleanup?
- /ˈkliːnʌp/
- [ˈkʰliːˌnʌp]
Cleanup has 2 syllables (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-cleanup.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with cleanup
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: clean-up (one word or two).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of cleanup
- cleanups plural
- clean-up
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cleanup mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of cleaning or tidying something.
the cost of environmental cleanup after an oil spill
- 2
The act of finishing something off.
- 3
Fourth in the batting order; a cleanup hitter.
Jones will be batting cleanup in tonight's game.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cleanup in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the act of cleaning or tidying:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | nettoyage |
| German | Aufräumen, Säubern, Säuberung, Säuberungsaktion |
| Portuguese | limpeza |
| Spanish | limpieza |
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 cleanup come from?
A deverbal from clean up.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).