clemvsClosConfusable pair

Quick tell: clem is a verb, Clos is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“clem” is a verb and “Clos” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,597
“clem” frequency rank
#44,123
“Clos” frequency rank
73720
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clem Clos
Definition To be hungry; starve. A surname.

Letter map: clem vs Clos

Shared letters muted; letters that set clem and Clos apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.

4 ch
clem
4 ch
Clos

Part-of-speech tell for clem / Clos

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: clem is averb and Closaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73720, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clem is recorded at frequency rank #29,597, classified as averb, pronounced /klɛm/. Clos is at rank #44,123, tagged as aname.

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 73720, this pair ranks #38,659 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of clem vs Clos

Shared letters: cl. Private to "clem": em. Private to "Clos": os.

"clem" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "Clos" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clemcclem · celm · clemm · cllem · clme · lcem
  • Closcclos · cllos · closs · clso · lcos

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clem" and "Clos" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "clem" is a verb and "Clos" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "clem" or "Clos"?
"clem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,597 in our English list, against #44,123 for "Clos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "clem" and "Clos".

  • Full dictionary entry for "clem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Clos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #38,659 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clem" and "Clos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Clos vs coms". 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 #38,659 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list