clear
/ˈklɪə/adjective, adverb, verb, noun
clear is spelled C-L-E-A-R. The wrong spelling people search most is clera: about 180 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 323 of all searches for the word. Clear is an adjective meaning “Transparent in colour”.
How many letters and syllables are in clear?
| Letters | 5: C-L-E-A-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 178 times per million words; the 565th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, clera, about 180 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell clear?
Clear is spelled C-L-E-A-R. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 216 of the searches for clear in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is clear?
Clear appears 178 times per million words in written English, the 565th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce clear?
- UK /ˈklɪə/
- UK [ˈkʰlɪə̯]
- Australia /ˈkliə/
Clear has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-clear.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with clear?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as clear from its last stressed vowel (/ɪə/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: carle, lacer.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of clear
- clearer comparative
- clearest superlative
- clears present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- clearing participle, present
- cleared participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does clear mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Transparent in colour.
as clear as crystal
- 2
Bright; luminous; not dark or obscured.
The windshield was clear and clean.
- 3
Free of obstacles.
The driver had mistakenly thought the intersection was clear.
- 4
Without clouds.
clear weather; a clear day
- 5
Of the sky, such that less than one eighth of its area is obscured by clouds.
- 6
Free of ambiguity or doubt; easily understood.
He gave clear instructions not to bother him at work.
- 7
Distinct, sharp, well-marked.
- 8
Free of guilt, or suspicion.
a clear conscience
adverb
- 1
informalAll the way; entirely.
I threw it clear across the river to the other side.
- 2
Not near something or touching it.
Stand clear of the rails, a train is coming.
- 3
Free (or separate) from others.
- 4
In a clear manner; plainly.
verb
- 1
To remove obstructions, impediments or other unwanted items from.
Police took two hours to clear the road.
- 2
To remove (items or material) so as to leave something unobstructed or open.
Please clear all this stuff off the table.
- 3
To leave abruptly; to clear off or clear out.
- 4
To become free from obstruction or obscurement; to become transparent.
When the road cleared we continued our journey.
- 5
To eliminate ambiguity or doubt from (a matter); to clarify or resolve; to clear up.
We need to clear this issue once and for all.
- 6
To remove from suspicion, especially of having committed a crime.
The court cleared the man of murder.
- 7
To pass without interference; to miss.
The door just barely clears the table as it closes.
- 8
To exceed a stated mark.
She was the first female high jumper to clear two metres.
noun
- 1
Empty or open area.
The deer were standing in the clear.
- 2
Full extent; distance between extreme limits; especially; the distance between the nearest surfaces of two bodies, or the space between walls.
a room ten feet square in the clear
- 3
The completion of a stage or challenge, or of the whole game.
It took me weeks to achieve a one-credit clear (1CC).
- 4
A person who is free from the influence of engrams.
noun
- 1
An idea state of beingness free of unwanted influences.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate clear?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of clear: CLR, clr.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Clear in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | clair, transparent , libre , dégagé , déboucher, dégager |
| German | klar, durchsichtig , frei , abräumen , hell , weg von |
| Portuguese | translúcido, transluzente, claro , livre, limpo , através |
| Spanish | claro , despejado , desatascar , alejado , claramente, limpiamente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does clear come from?
From Middle English clere, from Anglo-Norman cler, from Old French cler (Modern French clair), from Latin clarus. Displaced native Middle English schir (“clear, pure”) (from Old English scīr (“clear, bright”)), Middle English skere (“clear, sheer”) (from Old English scǣre and Old Norse skǣr (“sheer, clear, pure”)), Middle English smolt (“clear (of mind), serene”) (from Old English smolt (“peaceful, serene”)). Cognate with Danish, German, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish klar, Dutch klaar, French clair, Italian chiaro, Portuguese claro, Romanian clar, Spanish claro.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).