Which to use
“clean” is an adjective and “cleary” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,135
- “clean” frequency rank
- #30,734
- “cleary” frequency rank
- 31869
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clean | cleary |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Free of dirt, filth, or impurities (extraneous matter); not dirty, filthy, or soiled. | A clear marble (sphere used in games), usually colored, but without decoration or design. |
Letter map: clean vs cleary
Shared letters muted; letters that set clean and cleary apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Grammar separator: clean vs cleary
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: clean is anadjective and clearyanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31869, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clean is recorded at frequency rank #1,135, classified as anadj, pronounced /kliːn/. cleary is at rank #30,734, 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 31869, this pair ranks #342,548 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clean vs cleary
Shared letters: acel. Private to "clean": n. Private to "cleary": ry.
"clean" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "cleary" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clean" for "cleary" ever safe?
Which is more common, "clean" or "cleary"?
What to do next
Pair "clean" vs "cleary" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "clean" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cleary" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #342,548 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clean" and "cleary" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clary vs cleary". 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 #342,548 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.