cleanly
/ˈklɛnli/
"cleanly" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cleanly” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,152. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #28,152
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Being habitually clean, practising good hygiene.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cleanly · cleanly · English
cleanly · rank #28,152 · 11 variants · 10 confusables
- FREQ-MID #28,152
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH chino
Nearest frequency peer: chino (-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 “cleanly”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Chechen
Chechen
71,852 corpus weight
- chia
chia
71,851 corpus weight
- chino
chino
71,850 corpus weight
- cleanly
cleanly
71,849 corpus weight
- colorless
colorless
71,847 corpus weight
- concave
concave
71,846 corpus weight
What this shows “cleanly” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | cleanly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈklɛnli/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #28,152 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “cleanly”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around cleanly (IPA /ˈklɛnli/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #28,152 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for cleanly, with forms such as "ccleanly", "celanly", and "claenly". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "cleans", "cleary", "clearly", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English clenly, clenliche, clanly, from Old English clǣnlīċ (“cleanly, pure, excellent”), equivalent to clean + -ly. The correct English form is cleanly, spelled C-L-E-A-N-L-Y.
Definition
- 1Being habitually clean, practising good hygiene.
- 2Cleansing; fitted to remove moisture; dirt, etc.
- 3Adroit; dexterous; artful.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cleanly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I'l now lead you to an honeſt Ale-houſe, where we ſhall find a cleanly room, Lavender in the windowes, and twenty Ballads ſtuck about the wall; […]
[H]is lov'd partner boaſtful of her hoard, Diſplays the cleanly platter on the board; […]
Etymology
From Middle English clenly, clenliche, clanly, from Old English clǣnlīċ (“cleanly, pure, excellent”), equivalent to clean + -ly.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ccleanly
- celanly
- claenly
- clealny
- cleanlly
- cleanlyy
- cleannly
- cleanyl
- clenaly
- clleanly
- lceanly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cleanly - 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 "cleanly"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cleanly", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).