Which to use
“caw” and “clan” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,655
- “caw” frequency rank
- #7,429
- “clan” frequency rank
- 56084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caw | clan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The harsh cry of a crow. | A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief, especially when the exact genealogies are not known. |
Where the eye mixes caw and clan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses caw with clan
A purely visual mix-up. caw (/kɔː/) and clan (/klæn/) 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 56084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caw is recorded at frequency rank #48,655, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɔː/. clan is at rank #7,429, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klæn/.
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 56084, this pair ranks #128,832 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of caw vs clan
Shared letters: ac. Private to "caw": w. Private to "clan": ln.
"caw" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "clan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clan ← caln · cclan · clann · cllan · clna · lcan
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "caw" for "clan" ever safe?
Which is more common, "caw" or "clan"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "caw" and "clan" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "caw" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #128,832 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caw" and "clan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caw vs CGT". 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 #128,832 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.