Which to use
“clary” and “clays” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,855
- “clary” frequency rank
- #37,382
- “clays” frequency rank
- 75237
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clary | clays |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | clary sage (Salvia sclarea) | plural of clay |
Where the eye mixes clary and clays
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. clary (CCVCV) and clays (CCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses clary with clays
A purely visual mix-up. clary (/ˈklɛəɹi/) and clays (/kleɪz/) 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 75237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clary is recorded at frequency rank #37,855, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɛəɹi/. clays is at rank #37,382, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kleɪz/.
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 75237, this pair ranks #33,776 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of clary vs clays
Shared letters: acly. Private to "clary": r. Private to "clays": s.
"clary" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "clays" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clary" for "clays" ever safe?
Frequency check: "clary" vs "clays" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "clary" and "clays" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clary" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clays" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #33,776 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clary" and "clays" 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 #33,776 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.