Clarissa
/kləˈɹɪsə/
"clarissa" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Clarissa” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #29,596. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #29,596
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A female given name from Latin or Italian.
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 | Clarissa |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /kləˈɹɪsə/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #29,596 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Clarissa” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around Clarissa (IPA /kləˈɹɪsə/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #29,596 among 43,570 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A female given name from Latin or Italian.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for Clarissa, with forms such as "calrissa", "cclarissa", and "clairssa". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "charisma", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Italian Clarissa, from Medieval Latin Clarissa; see there for more. Popularized in English by Samuel Richardson's 1748 novel Clarissa. Doublet of Clarisse. The correct English form is Clarissa, spelled C-L-A-R-I-S-S-A.
Definition
- 1A female given name from Latin or Italian.
Etymology
Borrowed from Italian Clarissa, from Medieval Latin Clarissa; see there for more. Popularized in English by Samuel Richardson's 1748 novel Clarissa. Doublet of Clarisse.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- calrissa
- cclarissa
- clairssa
- clarisa
- clarisas
- clarrissa
- clarsisa
- cllarissa
- clraissa
- lcarissa
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Clarissa - 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.
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 "Clarissa"?
What does "Clarissa" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Clarissa"?
How do you pronounce "Clarissa"?
What is the origin of the word "Clarissa"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “Clarissa”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-L-A-R-I-S-S-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kləˈɹɪsə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “charisma” - see the side-by-side comparison. Clarissa vs charisma
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
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.