Which to use
“client” and “clink” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,780
- “client” frequency rank
- #45,847
- “clink” frequency rank
- 48627
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | client | clink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A customer, a buyer or receiver of goods or services. | The sound of metal on metal, or glass on glass. |
Where the eye mixes client and clink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: client vs clink
A purely visual mix-up. client (/ˈklaɪ.ənt/) and clink (/klɪŋk/) 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 48627, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
client is recorded at frequency rank #2,780, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈklaɪ.ənt/. clink is at rank #45,847, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klɪŋk/.
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 48627, this pair ranks #191,259 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of client vs clink
Shared letters: ciln. Private to "client": et. Private to "clink": k.
"client" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC · "clink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "client" for "clink" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "client" or "clink" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "client" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #191,259 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "client" and "clink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clack vs clink". 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 #191,259 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.