Which to use
“Clown” and “Clowns” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,625
- “Clown” frequency rank
- #16,953
- “Clowns” frequency rank
- 28578
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Clown | Clowns |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Person, die vor Publikum (vor allem im Zirkus) in auffälligen Kostümen auftritt und Späße macht | Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Clown |
Where the eye mixes Clown and Clowns
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses Clown with Clowns
A purely visual mix-up. Clown ([klaʊ̯n]) and Clowns ([klaʊ̯ns]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Clown” sits inside “Clowns”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Clown is recorded at frequency rank #11,625, classified as anoun, pronounced [klaʊ̯n]. Clowns is at rank #16,953, tagged as anoun, pronounced [klaʊ̯ns].
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 28578, this pair ranks #1,782,286 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Clown vs Clowns
Shared letters: clnow. Private to "Clown": -. Private to "Clowns": s.
"Clown" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "Clowns" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "Clown" and "Clowns" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "Clown" or "Clowns" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "Clown" and "Clowns" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Clown" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Clowns" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,782,286 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Clown" and "Clowns" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clock vs Clown". 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 #1,782,286 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.