Which to use
“clair” is an adjective and “Claus” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,806
- “clair” frequency rank
- #7,449
- “Claus” frequency rank
- 56255
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clair | Claus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hell, anschaulich, bestimmt, deutlich, klar, licht, lichtvoll | männlicher Vorname |
Where the eye mixes clair and Claus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses clair with Claus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clair is [klɛʁ] while Claus is [klaʊ̯s]. 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 name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56255, 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]. Claus is at rank #7,449, tagged as aname, pronounced [klaʊ̯s].
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 56255, this pair ranks #947,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clair vs Claus
Shared letters: acl. Private to "clair": ir. Private to "Claus": su.
"clair" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "Claus" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clair" and "Claus" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary German text, does "clair" or "Claus" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "clair" and "Claus" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clair" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Claus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #947,329 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clair" and "Claus" 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 #947,329 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.