Which to use
“clary” and “clears” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,855
- “clary” frequency rank
- #13,685
- “clears” frequency rank
- 51540
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clary | clears |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | clary sage (Salvia sclarea) | A relatively strong, coarse flour that has only been sifted once. |
Letter map: clary vs clears
Shared letters muted; letters that set clary and clears apart highlighted. Shared run: 4. clary runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against clears's 6 (CCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Spelling & dictionary notes on clary vs clears
clary and clears are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51540, 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/. clears is at rank #13,685, tagged as anoun.
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 51540, this pair ranks #164,615 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clary vs clears
Shared letters: aclr. Private to "clary": y. Private to "clears": es.
"clary" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "clears" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clary" for "clears" ever safe?
Frequency check: "clary" vs "clears" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "clary" and "clears".
- Full dictionary entry for "clary" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clears" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #164,615 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clary" and "clears" 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 #164,615 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.