Which to use
“cleary” and “clergy” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,734
- “cleary” frequency rank
- #10,511
- “clergy” frequency rank
- 41245
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cleary | clergy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A clear marble (sphere used in games), usually colored, but without decoration or design. | A body of persons, such as priests, who are trained and ordained for religious service. |
Letter map: cleary vs clergy
Shared letters muted; letters that set cleary and clergy apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. cleary (CCVVCV) and clergy (CCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Pair insight - cleary / clergy
cleary and clergy 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41245, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cleary is recorded at frequency rank #30,734, classified as anoun. 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 41245, this pair ranks #260,243 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cleary vs clergy
Shared letters: celry. Private to "cleary": a. Private to "clergy": g.
"cleary" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV · "clergy" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cleary" and "clergy" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cleary" or "clergy"?
After this comparison
Pair "cleary" vs "clergy" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "cleary" 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 #260,243 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cleary" and "clergy" 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 #260,243 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.