clear cut

adj

"clear-cut" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“clear cut” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Straightforward, obvious, simple, or basic.

Key facts for clear cut
PropertyValue
Headwordclear cut
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “clear cut” sits in English frequency

clear cut falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for clear cut is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No misspelling variants are generated for clear cut in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is clear cut, spelled C-L-E-A-R- -C-U-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Straightforward, obvious, simple, or basic.
  2. 2
    Having had all trees cut.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "clear cut"?
"clear cut" is spelled C-L-E-A-R- -C-U-T.
What does "clear cut" mean?
As an adjective, "clear cut" means: Straightforward, obvious, simple, or basic.
What language does "clear cut" come from?
"clear cut" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “clear cut”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-L-E-A-R- -C-U-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list