clash
/klaʃ/
"clash" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“clash” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #7,430 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #7,430
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A loud sound, like the crashing together of metal objects; a crash.
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 | clash |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /klaʃ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #7,430 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “clash” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for clash is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /klaʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,430 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for clash, with forms such as "calsh", "cclash", and "clahs". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "clay", "claw", "Clos", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Saterland Frisian klatskje (“to smack, slap”), West Frisian kletse, kletskje, Dutch kletsen (“to smack, slap, clash”), German Low German klattsen, klatsken (“to smack, splash”), German klatschen (“to clap, smack, slap”) and K… The correct English form is clash, spelled C-L-A-S-H.
Definition
- 1A loud sound, like the crashing together of metal objects; a crash.
- 2A skirmish, a hostile encounter.
- 3match; a game between two sides.
- 4An angry argument.
- 5Opposition; contradiction; such as between differing or contending interests, views, purposes etc.
- 6A combination of garments that do not look good together, especially because of conflicting colours.
- 7An instance of restarting the game after a "dead ball", where it is dropped between two opposing players, who can fight for possession.
- 8Chatter; gossip; idle talk.
- 9A heavy fall (of rain); heavy rain.
Etymology
Of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Saterland Frisian klatskje (“to smack, slap”), West Frisian kletse, kletskje, Dutch kletsen (“to smack, slap, clash”), German Low German klattsen, klatsken (“to smack, splash”), German klatschen (“to clap, smack, slap”) and Klatsch (“a clapping sound; the din resulting from two or more things colliding”), Danish klaske (“to clash, splatter”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: calsh,cclash,clahs,clashh,classh,cllash,clsah,lcash
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clash - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Using “clash”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-L-A-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /klaʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “clay” - see the side-by-side comparison. clash vs clay
- 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.