Clown

[klaʊ̯n]

/[klaʊ̯n]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Clown” has 8 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #11,625. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,625
frequency rank, German
1,273
“C” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Person, die vor Publikum (vor allem im Zirkus) in auffälligen Kostümen auftritt und Späße macht

Corpus desk

Index DE-clown · Clown · German

Clown · rank #11,625 · 8 variants · 11 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,625
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,273
  • PHOTO-FINISH CHF

Nearest frequency peer: CHF (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Clown“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Clown“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Clown vs con
40% similar
Clown vs crow
40% similar
Clown vs coin
40% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Clown
PropertyValue
HeadwordClown
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[klaʊ̯n]
Letters5
Frequency rank#11,625
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Clown“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.Clownliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „CHF“ (#11,624), „Demenz“ (#11,626), „Chelsea“ (#11,623). Unter 1,273 „C“-Lemmata liegt „Clown“ bei #11,625. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around Clown (IPA [klaʊ̯n]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,625 among 1,273 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for Clown, with forms such as "cclown", "cllown", and "clonw". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "con", "crow", "coin", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is Clown, spelled C-L-O-W-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Person, die vor Publikum (vor allem im Zirkus) in auffälligen Kostümen auftritt und Späße macht
  2. 2
    alberner, nicht ernst zu nehmender Mensch

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Clown appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Grock war ein berühmter Clown.
  2. „Der Clown hatte eine große Kiste in die Mitte der Manege gestellt.“

This word in other languages

clown(English)payaso(Español)clown(Français)palhaço(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cclown
  • cllown
  • clonw
  • clownn
  • clowwn
  • clwon
  • colwn
  • lcown

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Clown - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

cclown1cllown1clonw2clownn1clowwn1clwon2colwn2lcown2
Edit distance from "Clown"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Clown"?
"Clown" is spelled C-L-O-W-N. The IPA pronunciation is [klaʊ̯n].
What does "Clown" mean?
As a noun, "Clown" means: Person, die vor Publikum (vor allem im Zirkus) in auffälligen Kostümen auftritt und Späße macht
What words are commonly confused with "Clown"?
"Clown" is commonly confused with "con", "crow", "coin". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Clown"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Clown" is [klaʊ̯n]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Clown" come from?
"Clown" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Clown", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

break#11,619Bobby#11,616edlen#11,634Endes#11,640

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Boeing8 variantsBaumann8 variantsgeiles8 variantsApparat8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list