Which to use
“close” is a noun and “Clyde” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,880
- “close” frequency rank
- #28,132
- “Clyde” frequency rank
- 49012
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | close | Clyde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | die Sackgasse | Fluss in Schottland |
Where the eye mixes close and Clyde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses close with Clyde
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: close is [kləʊz] while Clyde is [klaɪ̯t]. 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 (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49012, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
close is recorded at frequency rank #20,880, classified as anoun, pronounced [kləʊz]. Clyde is at rank #28,132, tagged as aname, pronounced [klaɪ̯t].
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 49012, this pair ranks #1,227,308 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of close vs Clyde
Shared letters: cel. Private to "close": os. Private to "Clyde": dy.
"close" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "Clyde" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "close" for "Clyde" ever safe?
Which is more common, "close" or "Clyde"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "close" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Clyde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,227,308 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "close" and "Clyde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clock vs close". 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 #1,227,308 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.