clay

/kleɪ/

//kleɪ// noun

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

"clay" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“clay” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,358. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#4,358
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics.

Corpus desk

Index EN-clay · clay · English

clay · rank #4,358 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #4,358
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cited

Nearest frequency peer: cited (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “clay”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “clay” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

clay vs cry
50% similar
clay vs CPA
0% similar
clay vs CSA
0% similar

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

Key facts for clay
PropertyValue
Headwordclay
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kleɪ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#4,358
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “clay” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).clay lands 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. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around clay (IPA /kleɪ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,358 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for clay, with forms such as "caly", "cclay", and "clayy". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cry", "CPA", "CSA", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cley, clay, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaij, from Proto-Germanic *klajjaz (“clay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to glue, paste, stick together”). Cognate with Dutch klei (“clay”), Low German Klei (“c… The correct English form is clay, spelled C-L-A-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics.
  2. 2
    An earth material with ductile qualities.
  3. 3
    A tennis court surface made of crushed stone, brick, shale, or other unbound mineral aggregate.
  4. 4
    The material of the human body.
  5. 5
    A particle less than 3.9 microns in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
  6. 6
    A clay pipe for smoking tobacco.
  7. 7
    A clay pigeon.
  8. 8
    Land or territory of a country or other political region, especially when subject to territorial claims.
  9. 9
    A moth, Mythimna ferrago

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with (by way of local color) on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust […]
  2. The French Open is played on clay.

Etymology

From Middle English cley, clay, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaij, from Proto-Germanic *klajjaz (“clay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to glue, paste, stick together”). Cognate with Dutch klei (“clay”), Low German Klei (“clay”), German Klei, Danish klæg (“clay”); compare Ancient Greek γλία (glía), Latin glūten (“glue”) (whence ultimately English glue), Russian глина (glina, “clay”). Related also to clag, clog.

Antonyms

soulspirit

This word in other languages

arcilla(Español)argile(Français)Lehm(Deutsch)argila(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • caly
  • cclay
  • clayy
  • cllay
  • clya
  • lcay

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clay - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

caly2cclay1clayy1cllay1clya2lcay2
Edit distance from "clay"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "clay"?
"clay" is spelled C-L-A-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /kleɪ/.
What does "clay" mean?
As a noun, "clay" means: A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics.
What words are commonly confused with "clay"?
"clay" is commonly confused with "cry", "CPA", "CSA". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "clay"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "clay" is /kleɪ/. 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 "clay"?
From Middle English cley, clay, from Old English clǣġ (“clay”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaij, from Proto-Germanic *klajjaz (“clay”), from Proto-Indo-European *gley- (“to glue, paste, stick together”). Cognate with Dutch klei (“clay”), Low Germa... 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 "clay", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

beef#4,351drag#4,370fool#4,378stem#4,336

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

beast6 variantstiger6 variantssauce6 variantsnuts6 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "clay". Here's where to go from here.

  • "clay" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "cry". View pair
  • 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #4,358 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list