Which to use
“close” is a verb and “clover” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #431
- “close” frequency rank
- #18,041
- “clover” frequency rank
- 18472
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | close | clover |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through. | A plant of the genus Trifolium with leaves usually divided into three (rarely four) leaflets and with white or red flowers. |
Where the eye mixes close and clover
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between close and clover
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: close is /kləʊz/ while clover is /ˈkləʊ.və(ɹ)/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
close is recorded at frequency rank #431, classified as averb, pronounced /kləʊz/. clover is at rank #18,041, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkləʊ.və(ɹ)/.
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 18472, this pair ranks #444,688 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of close vs clover
Shared letters: celo. Private to "close": s. Private to "clover": rv.
"close" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "clover" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "close" and "clover" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "close" or "clover" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "close" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clover" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #444,688 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "close" and "clover" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clover vs cower". 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 #444,688 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.