ClovscloveWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,144
“Clo” frequency rank
#32,327
“clove” frequency rank
80471
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Clo clove
Definition Abbreviation of close (in street addresses). A very pungent aromatic spice, the unexpanded flower bud of the clove tree.

Where the spellings diverge

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

3 ch
Clo
5 ch
clove

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Clo and clove 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 2 extra letter(s) - “Clo” sits inside “clove”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80471, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Clo is recorded at frequency rank #48,144, classified as anoun. clove is at rank #32,327, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kləʊv/.

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 80471, this pair ranks #19,728 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Clo vs clove

Shared letters: clo. Private to "Clo": -. Private to "clove": ev.

"Clo" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "clove" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clovecclove · cllove · cloev · clovve · clvoe · colve · lcove

Frequency comparison

Clo#48,144
clove#32,327

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Clo" and "clove" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “Clo” sits inside “clove”, 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 "clove"?
"clove" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,327 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 clove

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