Which to use
“clair” and “clear” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,806
- “clair” frequency rank
- #27,240
- “clear” frequency rank
- 76046
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clair | clear |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | hell, anschaulich, bestimmt, deutlich, klar, licht, lichtvoll | klar |
Where the eye mixes clair and clear
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses clair with clear
A purely visual mix-up. clair ([klɛʁ]) and clear ([klɪə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76046, 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]. clear is at rank #27,240, tagged as anadj, pronounced [klɪə].
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 76046, this pair ranks #293,086 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of clair vs clear
Shared letters: aclr. Private to "clair": i. Private to "clear": e.
"clair" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "clear" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clair" and "clear" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "clair" or "clear" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "clair" and "clear" 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 "clear" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #293,086 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clair" and "clear" 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 #293,086 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.