clipvscupWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“clip” and “cup” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#12,333
“clip” frequency rank
#9,436
“cup” frequency rank
21769
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clip cup
Definition Objeto metálico con el cual se pueden agrupar documentos impresos.^([definición imprecisa]) Taza.

Where the eye mixes clip and cup

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
clip
3 ch
cup

Visual trap between clip and cup

A purely visual mix-up. clip ([ˈklip]) and cup (/kʌp/) 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 21769, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clip is recorded at frequency rank #12,333, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈklip]. cup is at rank #9,436, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kʌp/.

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 21769, this pair ranks #253,419 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of clip vs cup

Shared letters: cp. Private to "clip": il. Private to "cup": u.

"clip" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "cup" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clipcclip · cilp · clipp · cllip · clpi · lcip

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "clip" and "cup" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈklip] versus /kʌp/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "clip" vs "cup" - which ranks higher?
"cup" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,436 in our Spanish list, against #12,333 for "clip". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "clip" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cup" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #253,419 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clip" and "cup" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clip vs coin". 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 #253,419 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list