Which to use
“clam” and “clan” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,750
- “clam” frequency rank
- #7,429
- “clan” frequency rank
- 29179
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clam | clan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A bivalve mollusk of many kinds, especially those that are edible; for example soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria), hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria), sea clams or hen clams (Spisula solidissima), and other species, possibly originally applied to clams of species Tridacna gigas, a huge East Indian bivalve. | 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 clam and clan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clam and clan
A purely visual mix-up. clam (/klæm/) 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 a single letter - m in “clam” becomes n in “clan”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29179, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clam is recorded at frequency rank #21,750, classified as anoun, pronounced /klæm/. 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 29179, this pair ranks #365,173 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clam vs clan
Shared letters: acl. Private to "clam": m. Private to "clan": n.
"clam" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "clan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clam" and "clan" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "clam" or "clan" show up more?
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 "clam" 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 #365,173 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clam" and "clan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caw vs clam". 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 #365,173 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.