cloggingvsclowningWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#32,326
“clogging” frequency rank
#45,280
“clowning” frequency rank
77606
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clogging clowning
Definition The situation of something being clogged. Clownish behavior.

Letter map: clogging vs clowning

Shared letters muted; letters that set clogging and clowning apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. clogging and clowning follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
clogging
8 ch
clowning

Corpus notes: clogging and clowning

clogging and clowning 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clogging is recorded at frequency rank #32,326, classified as anoun. clowning is at rank #45,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈklaʊnɪŋ/.

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 77606, this pair ranks #26,799 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of clogging vs clowning

Shared letters: cgilno. Private to "clogging": -. Private to "clowning": w.

"clogging" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC  ·  "clowning" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clogging ← cclogging · clgoging · cllogging · cloggign · cloggingg · clogginng · cloggnig · clogigng
  • clowning ← cclowning · cllowning · clonwing · clowinng · clownign · clowningg · clowninng · clownnig

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "clogging" for "clowning" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "clogging" or "clowning"?
"clogging" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,326 in our English list, against #45,280 for "clowning". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "clogging" vs "clowning" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "clogging" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clowning" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #26,799 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "clogging" and "clowning" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clouding vs clowning". 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 #26,799 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list