Which to use
“clear” is an adjective and “cream” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,980
- “clear” frequency rank
- #24,817
- “cream” frequency rank
- 61797
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clear | cream |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Claro. | Crema de leche. |
Where the eye mixes clear and cream
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clear and cream
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clear is /klɪə(ɹ)/ while cream is /kɹiːm/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61797, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clear is recorded at frequency rank #36,980, classified as anadj, pronounced /klɪə(ɹ)/. cream is at rank #24,817, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɹiːm/.
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 61797, this pair ranks #54,216 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of clear vs cream
Shared letters: acer. Private to "clear": l. Private to "cream": m.
"clear" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "cream" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clear" for "cream" ever safe?
Frequency check: "clear" vs "cream" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "clear" and "cream" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clear" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cream" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,216 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clear" and "cream" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clear vs clonar". 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 #54,216 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.