Clown

/[klaʊ̯n]/ noun

Letters

5 characters

Frequency Rank

#11,625

in German word usage

Misspellings

8

tracked variants

Confusables

11

similar word pairs

Clown is aGermannoun. It means: Person, die vor Publikum (vor allem im Zirkus) in auffälligen Kostümen auftritt und Späße macht Pronounced [klaʊ̯n]. Often confused with con and crow.

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

Frequency rank visualization

Position of Clown in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for Clown is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [klaʊ̯n]. Corpus data places it at rank #11,625 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for Clown, with forms such as "cclown", "cllown", and "clonw". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "con", "crow", "coin", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is Clown, spelled C-L-O-W-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

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

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: cclown,cllown,clonw,clownn,clowwn,clwon,colwn,lcown

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Clown

Misspelling Variants of "Clown"

cclown6cllown6clonw5clownn6clowwn6clwon5colwn5lcown5
Misspelling Variants of "Clown"

Frequency rank: #11,625 in German

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. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.