Which to use
“cleric” and “clerks” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,568
- “cleric” frequency rank
- #19,290
- “clerks” frequency rank
- 36858
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cleric | clerks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A member of a clergy. | plural of clerk |
Where the eye mixes cleric and clerks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cleric (CCVCVC) and clerks (CCVCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between cleric and clerks
A purely visual mix-up. cleric (/ˈklɛɹɪk/) and clerks (/klɑː(ɹ)ks/) 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 36858, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cleric is recorded at frequency rank #17,568, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɛɹɪk/. clerks is at rank #19,290, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klɑː(ɹ)ks/.
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 36858, this pair ranks #299,533 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cleric vs clerks
Shared letters: celr. Private to "cleric": i. Private to "clerks": ks.
"cleric" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "clerks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cleric" and "clerks" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "cleric" or "clerks" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cleric" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clerks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #299,533 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cleric" and "clerks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cheri vs cleric". 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 #299,533 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.