clarification

/ˌklæɹɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/

//ˌklæɹɪfɪˈkeɪʃən// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"clarification" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“clarification” has 20 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,089. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#14,089
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
20
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of clarifying; the act or process of making clear or transparent by freeing visible impurities; particularly, the clearing or fining of liquid substances from impurities via the separation ...

Corpus desk

Index EN-clarification · clarification · English

clarification · rank #14,089 · 20 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #14,089
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 20 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH clap

Nearest frequency peer: clap (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “clarification”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “clarification” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

clarification vs classification
86% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for clarification
PropertyValue
Headwordclarification
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌklæɹɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
Letters13
Frequency rank#14,089
Misspellings tracked20
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “clarification”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).clarificationlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “clap” (#14,088), “concluding” (#14,091), “chassis” (#14,086). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “clarification” is #14,089. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 20 spelling variants around clarification (IPA /ˌklæɹɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,089 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 20 likely wrong-spelling variants for clarification, with forms such as "calrification", "cclarification", and "clairfication". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "classification", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French clarification, from Latin clārificātiō. The correct English form is clarification, spelled C-L-A-R-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of clarifying; the act or process of making clear or transparent by freeing visible impurities; particularly, the clearing or fining of liquid substances from impurities via the separation of the insoluble particles which prevent the liquid from being transparent.
  2. 2
    The act of freeing from obscurities; disambiguation.
  3. 3
    An explanatory comment on, or question about, a point of obscurity.
  4. 4
    A small piece of writing supplemental to a previously published text, intended to disambiguate, explain away obscurities, but not contradict or emend the text (as would a correction).
  5. 5
    Clarity, transparency, mutual understanding; to be clear.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how clarification appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The clarification of wine.
  2. Your ideas deserve clarification.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French clarification, from Latin clārificātiō.

This word in other languages

aclaración(Español)clarification(Français)Erläuterung(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • calrification
  • cclarification
  • clairfication
  • clarfiication
  • clarifciation
  • clariffication
  • clarifiaction
  • clarificaiton
  • clarificasion
  • clarificatino
  • clarificationn
  • clarificatoin
  • clarificattion
  • clarificcation
  • clarifictaion
  • clariifcation
  • clarrification
  • cllarification
  • clraification
  • lcarification

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clarification - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

calrification2cclarification1clairfication2clarfiication2clarifciation2clariffication1clarifiaction2clarificaiton2
Edit distance from "clarification"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "clarification"?
"clarification" is spelled C-L-A-R-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌklæɹɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/.
What does "clarification" mean?
As a noun, "clarification" means: The act of clarifying; the act or process of making clear or transparent by freeing visible impurities; particularly, the clearing or fining of liquid substances from impurities via the separation ...
What words are commonly confused with "clarification"?
"clarification" is commonly confused with "classification". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "clarification"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "clarification" is /ˌklæɹɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "clarification"?
Borrowed from Middle French clarification, from Latin clārificātiō. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "clarification", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

accreditation#14,058physiological#14,186transcription#14,237compassionate#13,887

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (20 here; floor ≥5).

aforementioned20 variantsexperimenting20 variantsinsignificant20 variantsschizophrenia20 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list