clearness

noun

"clearness" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“clearness” is uncommon English (frequency #73,966 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,966
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Brightness, brilliancy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-clearness · clearness · English

clearness · rank #73,966 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,966
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH chugs

Nearest frequency peer: chugs (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “clearness”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “clearness” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for clearness
PropertyValue
Headwordclearness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#73,966
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “clearness” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).clearnessfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “chugs” (#73,965), “clop” (#73,967), “cobs” (#73,968). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “clearness” is #73,966. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

clearness is uncommon English at frequency #73,966 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for clearness in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English clernesse; equivalent to clear + -ness. The correct English form is clearness, spelled C-L-E-A-R-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Brightness, brilliancy.
  2. 2
    Mental or sensory distinctness; clarity of understanding, perception etc.
  3. 3
    The state of being free from obscurities or opacity; distinctness of light, colour etc.
  4. 4
    The state of being free from obstruction or interference.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Thenne sayd he Fair swete fader Ihesu Cryst yf euer I dyd thyng that pleasyd the lord / for thy pyte ne haue me not in despyte for my synnes done afore tyme / and that thou shewe me some thynge of that I seke / And with that he sawe the chamber dore open and there came oute a grete clerenes / that the hows was as bryghte as all torches of the world had be…
  2. The daily press is the evil principle of the modern world, and time will only serve to disclose this fact with greater and greater clearness.

Etymology

From Middle English clernesse; equivalent to clear + -ness.

This word in other languages

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 "clearness"?
"clearness" is spelled C-L-E-A-R-N-E-S-S.
What does "clearness" mean?
As a noun, "clearness" means: Brightness, brilliancy.
What is the origin of the word "clearness"?
From Middle English clernesse; equivalent to clear + -ness. 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 "clearness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list