Which to use
“clinic” and “critic” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,015
- “clinic” frequency rank
- #7,670
- “critic” frequency rank
- 12685
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clinic | critic |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A medical facility, such as a hospital, especially one for the treatment and diagnosis of outpatients. | A person who appraises the works of others. |
Where the eye mixes clinic and critic
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. clinic and critic follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses clinic with critic
A purely visual mix-up. clinic (/ˈklɪn.ɪk/) and critic (/ˈkɹɪt.ɪk/) 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 12685, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clinic is recorded at frequency rank #5,015, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈklɪn.ɪk/. critic is at rank #7,670, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹɪt.ɪk/.
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 12685, this pair ranks #480,126 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clinic vs critic
Shared letters: ci. Private to "clinic": ln. Private to "critic": rt.
"clinic" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "critic" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clinic" and "critic" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "clinic" or "critic"?
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 "clinic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "critic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #480,126 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clinic" and "critic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clinic 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 #480,126 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.