Which to use
“clergy” and “clerk” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,511
- “clergy” frequency rank
- #7,108
- “clerk” frequency rank
- 17619
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clergy | clerk |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A body of persons, such as priests, who are trained and ordained for religious service. | One who occupationally provides assistance by working with records, accounts, letters, etc.; an office worker. |
Where the eye mixes clergy and clerk
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses clergy with clerk
A purely visual mix-up. clergy (/ˈklɜːdʒi/) and clerk (/klɑːk/) 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 17619, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clergy is recorded at frequency rank #10,511, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɜːdʒi/. clerk is at rank #7,108, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klɑːk/.
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 17619, this pair ranks #450,253 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clergy vs clerk
Shared letters: celr. Private to "clergy": gy. Private to "clerk": k.
"clergy" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "clerk" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clergy" and "clerk" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "clergy" or "clerk" 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 "clergy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clerk" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #450,253 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clergy" and "clerk" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cheri vs clerk". 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 #450,253 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.