clairvsClareConfusable pair

Quick tell: clair is a adjective, Clare is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“clair” is an adjective and “Clare” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,806
“clair” frequency rank
#39,271
“Clare” frequency rank
88077
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clair Clare
Definition hell, anschaulich, bestimmt, deutlich, klar, licht, lichtvoll ein County bzw. eine historische Grafschaft in der Provinz Ulster, Republik Irland

Letter map: clair vs Clare

Shared letters muted; letters that set clair and Clare apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

5 ch
clair
5 ch
Clare

Grammar separator: clair vs Clare

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: clair is anadjective and Clareaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88077, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clair is recorded at frequency rank #48,806, classified as anadj, pronounced [klɛʁ]. Clare is at rank #39,271, tagged as aname, pronounced […].

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 88077, this pair ranks #72,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of clair vs Clare

Shared letters: aclr. Private to "clair": i. Private to "Clare": e.

"clair" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC  ·  "Clare" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • claircalir · cclair · clairr · clari · cliar · cllair · lcair
  • Clarecalre · cclare · clarre · cllare · clrae · lcare

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "clair" for "Clare" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "clair" is an adjective and "Clare" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "clair" or "Clare" show up more?
"Clare" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #39,271 in our German list, against #48,806 for "clair". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "clair" and "Clare".

  • Full dictionary entry for "clair" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Clare" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,618 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clair" and "Clare" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "carr vs clair". 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 #72,618 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list