Which to use
“clans” and “cons” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,986
- “clans” frequency rank
- #10,183
- “cons” frequency rank
- 26169
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clans | cons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of clan | A data structure in Lisp that is a pair of pointers, car and cdr, used mainly for lists. |
Where the eye mixes clans and cons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: clans vs cons
A purely visual mix-up. clans (/klænz/) and cons (/ˈkɑnz/) 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 26169, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clans is recorded at frequency rank #15,986, classified as anoun, pronounced /klænz/. cons is at rank #10,183, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɑnz/.
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 26169, this pair ranks #388,697 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clans vs cons
Shared letters: cns. Private to "clans": al. Private to "cons": o.
"clans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "cons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clans" and "cons" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "clans" or "cons"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "clans" and "cons" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clans" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #388,697 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clans" and "cons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clack vs clans". 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 #388,697 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.