Which to use
“clarity” and “clary” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,260
- “clarity” frequency rank
- #37,855
- “clary” frequency rank
- 46115
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clarity | clary |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The state or measure of being clear, either in appearance, thought or style; lucidity. | clary sage (Salvia sclarea) |
Where the eye mixes clarity and clary
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. clarity runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against clary's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses clarity with clary
A purely visual mix-up. clarity (/ˈklæɹ.ɪ.ti/) 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 differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46115, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clarity is recorded at frequency rank #8,260, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈklæɹ.ɪ.ti/. 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 46115, this pair ranks #214,816 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clarity vs clary
Shared letters: aclry. Private to "clarity": it. Private to "clary": -.
"clarity" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "clary" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clarity" for "clary" ever safe?
Frequency check: "clarity" vs "clary" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "clarity" 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 #214,816 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clarity" and "clary" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clack 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 #214,816 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.