clarinet
/ˌklæɹɪˈnɛt/
"clarinet" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“clarinet” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #24,702 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #24,702
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A woodwind musical instrument that has a distinctive liquid tone whose characteristics vary among its three registers: chalumeau (low), clarion (medium), and altissimo (high).
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | clarinet |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌklæɹɪˈnɛt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #24,702 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “clarinet” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for clarinet is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌklæɹɪˈnɛt/. Corpus data places it at rank #24,702 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A woodwind musical instrument that has a distinctive liquid tone whose characteristics vary among its three registers: chalumeau (low), clarion (medium), and altissimo (high).".
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for clarinet, with forms such as "calrinet", "cclarinet", and "clairnet". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "claret", "cabinet", "Clarice", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Italian clarinetto, diminutive of clarino (“trumpet”) (as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet), from Latin clarus. Alternatively, the word may come from French clarinette, diminutive form of clarine (“bell”), f… The correct English form is clarinet, spelled C-L-A-R-I-N-E-T.
Definition
- 1A woodwind musical instrument that has a distinctive liquid tone whose characteristics vary among its three registers: chalumeau (low), clarion (medium), and altissimo (high).
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian clarinetto, diminutive of clarino (“trumpet”) (as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet), from Latin clarus. Alternatively, the word may come from French clarinette, diminutive form of clarine (“bell”), from clarin, from clair (“clear”), from Latin clarus.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: calrinet,cclarinet,clairnet,clarient,clarinett,clarinnet,clarinte,clarniet,clarrinet,cllarinet,clrainet,lcarinet
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clarinet - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "clarinet"?
What does "clarinet" mean?
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Using “clarinet”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-L-A-R-I-N-E-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌklæɹɪˈnɛt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “claret” - see the side-by-side comparison. clarinet vs claret
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.