Which to use
“clink” and “clock” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,847
- “clink” frequency rank
- #3,414
- “clock” frequency rank
- 49261
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clink | clock |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The sound of metal on metal, or glass on glass. | A chronometer, an instrument that measures time, particularly the time of day. |
Where the eye mixes clink and clock
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: clink vs clock
A purely visual mix-up. clink (/klɪŋk/) and clock (/klɒk/) 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 49261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clink is recorded at frequency rank #45,847, classified as anoun, pronounced /klɪŋk/. clock is at rank #3,414, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klɒk/.
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 49261, this pair ranks #185,307 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clink vs clock
Shared letters: ckl. Private to "clink": in. Private to "clock": o.
"clink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "clock" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clink" and "clock" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "clink" or "clock" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "clink" and "clock" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "clink" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clock" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #185,307 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clink" and "clock" 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 #185,307 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.