caliphvsclipsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“caliph” and “clips” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#32,307
“caliph” frequency rank
#6,664
“clips” frequency rank
38971
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caliph clips
Definition The holder of a monarchical title based on a claim to be a successor of Muhammad. plural of clip

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set caliph and clips apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
caliph
5 ch
clips

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. caliph (/ˈkeɪlɪf/) and clips (/klɪps/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38971, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caliph is recorded at frequency rank #32,307, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkeɪlɪf/. clips is at rank #6,664, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klɪps/.

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 38971, this pair ranks #281,004 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of caliph vs clips

Shared letters: cilp. Private to "caliph": ah. Private to "clips": s.

"caliph" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "clips" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caliphacliph · cailph · calihp · caliphh · calipph · calliph · calpih · ccaliph
  • clipscclips · cilps · clipps · clipss · clisp · cllips · clpis · lcips

Frequency comparison

caliph#32,307
clips#6,664

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caliph" and "clips" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkeɪlɪf/ versus /klɪps/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "caliph" or "clips"?
"clips" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,664 in our English list, against #32,307 for "caliph". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering caliph vs clips

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “caliph” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list