Which to use
“clock” and “close” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,562
- “clock” frequency rank
- #20,880
- “close” frequency rank
- 70442
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clock | close |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | feststehende Uhr, die im Gegensatz zur Armbanduhr nicht getragen werden kann | die Sackgasse |
Where the eye mixes clock and close
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: clock vs close
A purely visual mix-up. clock ([klɒk]) and close ([kləʊz]) 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 70442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clock is recorded at frequency rank #49,562, classified as anoun, pronounced [klɒk]. close is at rank #20,880, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kləʊz].
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 70442, this pair ranks #446,249 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of clock vs close
Shared letters: clo. Private to "clock": k. Private to "close": es.
"clock" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "close" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clock" and "close" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "clock" vs "close" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "clock" and "close" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clock" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "close" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #446,249 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clock" and "close" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clock vs clou". 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 #446,249 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.