ClovsclogWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Clo” and “clog” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,144
“Clo” frequency rank
#29,215
“clog” frequency rank
77359
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Clo clog
Definition Abbreviation of close (in street addresses). A type of shoe with an inflexible, often wooden sole sometimes with an open heel.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Clo and clog apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
Clo
4 ch
clog

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Clo and clog are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Clo” sits inside “clog”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Clo is recorded at frequency rank #48,144, classified as anoun. clog is at rank #29,215, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klɒɡ/.

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 77359, this pair ranks #27,495 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Clo vs clog

Shared letters: clo. Private to "Clo": -. Private to "clog": g.

"Clo" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "clog" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clogcclog · clgo · cllog · clogg · colg · lcog

Frequency comparison

Clo#48,144
clog#29,215

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Clo" and "clog" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Clo” sits inside “clog”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "Clo" or "clog"?
"clog" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,215 in our English list, against #48,144 for "Clo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Clo vs clog

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Clo” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list