cleric
/ˈklɛɹɪk/
"cleric" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cleric” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,568. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #17,568
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A member of a clergy.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cleric · cleric · English
cleric · rank #17,568 · 9 variants · 11 confusables
- FREQ-MID #17,568
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH chops
Nearest frequency peer: chops (-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 “cleric”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- chatter
chatter
82,436 corpus weight
- cheered
cheered
82,435 corpus weight
- chops
chops
82,434 corpus weight
- cleric
cleric
82,433 corpus weight
- Colbert
Colbert
82,431 corpus weight
- comedic
comedic
82,430 corpus weight
What this shows “cleric” 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 | cleric |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈklɛɹɪk/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #17,568 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “cleric”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around cleric (IPA /ˈklɛɹɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #17,568 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for cleric, with forms such as "ccleric", "celric", and "cleirc". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "clerk", "clinic", "clerks", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Late Latin clēricus, from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós), from κλῆρος (klêros, “a casting lots, drawing lots”). Many officers at Athens obtained their offices by lot, as opposed to election (Liddell and Scott). Doublet of clerk. The correct English form is cleric, spelled C-L-E-R-I-C.
Definition
- 1A member of a clergy.
- 2A spellcaster class that receives their spells (especially healing) from their deity.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how cleric appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Holonyms: clergy; see also Thesaurus:clergy
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin clēricus, from Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós), from κλῆρος (klêros, “a casting lots, drawing lots”). Many officers at Athens obtained their offices by lot, as opposed to election (Liddell and Scott). Doublet of clerk.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ccleric
- celric
- cleirc
- clerci
- clericc
- clerric
- clleric
- clreic
- lceric
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cleric - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "cleric"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cleric", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).