Which to use
“clays” and “clips” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,382
- “clays” frequency rank
- #6,664
- “clips” frequency rank
- 44046
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clays | clips |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of clay | plural of clip |
Where the eye mixes clays and clips
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: clays vs clips
A purely visual mix-up. clays (/kleɪz/) and clips (/klɪps/) 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 44046, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clays is recorded at frequency rank #37,382, classified as anoun, pronounced /kleɪz/. clips is at rank #6,664, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klɪps/.
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 44046, this pair ranks #234,220 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clays vs clips
Shared letters: cls. Private to "clays": ay. Private to "clips": ip.
"clays" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "clips" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clays" and "clips" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "clays" or "clips" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "clays" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clips" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #234,220 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clays" and "clips" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clack vs clays". 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 #234,220 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.