Which to use
“clary” and “clergy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,855
- “clary” frequency rank
- #10,511
- “clergy” frequency rank
- 48366
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clary | clergy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | clary sage (Salvia sclarea) | A body of persons, such as priests, who are trained and ordained for religious service. |
Where the eye mixes clary and clergy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. clary runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against clergy's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: clary vs clergy
A purely visual mix-up. clary (/ˈklɛəɹi/) and clergy (/ˈklɜːdʒi/) 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 48366, 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/. clergy is at rank #10,511, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɜːdʒi/.
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 48366, this pair ranks #193,721 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clary vs clergy
Shared letters: clry. Private to "clary": a. Private to "clergy": eg.
"clary" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "clergy" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clary" for "clergy" ever safe?
Which is more common, "clary" or "clergy"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "clary" and "clergy" 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 "clergy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #193,721 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clary" and "clergy" 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 #193,721 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.