Which to use
“clack” and “clary” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,381
- “clack” frequency rank
- #37,855
- “clary” frequency rank
- 84236
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clack | clary |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An abrupt, sharp sound, especially one made by two hard objects colliding repetitively; a sound midway between a click and a clunk. | clary sage (Salvia sclarea) |
Where the eye mixes clack and clary
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. clack (CCVCC) and clary (CCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: clack vs clary
A purely visual mix-up. clack (/klæk/) and clary (/ˈklɛəɹi/) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 84236, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clack is recorded at frequency rank #46,381, classified as anoun, pronounced /klæk/. clary is at rank #37,855, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɛəɹi/.
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 84236, this pair ranks #12,443 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of clack vs clary
Shared letters: acl. Private to "clack": k. Private to "clary": ry.
"clack" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "clary" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clack" for "clary" ever safe?
Which is more common, "clack" or "clary"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "clack" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clary" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #12,443 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clack" and "clary" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clack vs clink". 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 #12,443 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.