Which to use
“celery” and “clergy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,042
- “celery” frequency rank
- #10,511
- “clergy” frequency rank
- 29553
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | celery | clergy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A European herb (Apium graveolens) of the carrot family. | A body of persons, such as priests, who are trained and ordained for religious service. |
Where the eye mixes celery and clergy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. celery (CVCVCV) and clergy (CCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses celery with clergy
A purely visual mix-up. celery (/ˈsɛl.ə.ɹi/) and clergy (/ˈklɜːdʒi/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29553, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
celery is recorded at frequency rank #19,042, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɛl.ə.ɹi/. clergy is at rank #10,511, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɜːdʒi/.
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 29553, this pair ranks #362,031 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of celery vs clergy
Shared letters: celry. Private to "celery": -. Private to "clergy": g.
"celery" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "clergy" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "celery" and "clergy" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "celery" vs "clergy" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "celery" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clergy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #362,031 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "celery" and "clergy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "celery vs clary". 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 #362,031 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.