clothes

/kləʊ(ð)z/

//kləʊ(ð)z// noun

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

"clothes" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“clothes” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,932 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,932
frequency rank, English
7
letters
11
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Items of clothing; apparel.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

clothes vs cloths
86% similar
clothes vs cloves
71% similar
clothes vs clutches
75% similar

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

Key facts for clothes
PropertyValue
Headwordclothes
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kləʊ(ð)z/
Letters7
Frequency rank#1,932
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “clothes” 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). clothes lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for clothes is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kləʊ(ð)z/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,932 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for clothes, with forms such as "cclothes", "cllothes", and "clohtes". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "cloths", "cloves", "clutches", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English clothes, cloþes, plural of cloth, cloþ (“cloth, garment”), from Old English clāþas (“clothes”), plural of clāþ (“cloth”), equivalent to cloth + -es. Cognate with Scots clathes, claes (“clothes”), Danish klæder, Norwegian Bokmål klær, Nor… The correct English form is clothes, spelled C-L-O-T-H-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Items of clothing; apparel.
  2. 2
    plural of cloth.
  3. 3
    The covering of a bed; bedclothes.
  4. 4
    Laundry (hung on a clothesline).

Etymology

From Middle English clothes, cloþes, plural of cloth, cloþ (“cloth, garment”), from Old English clāþas (“clothes”), plural of clāþ (“cloth”), equivalent to cloth + -es. Cognate with Scots clathes, claes (“clothes”), Danish klæder, Norwegian Bokmål klær, Norwegian Nynorsk klede, German Kleider.

Synonyms

clothing

This word in other languages

ropa(Español)vêtements(Français)Kleider(Deutsch)roupa(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: cclothes,cllothes,clohtes,clotehs,clothess,clothhes,clothse,clotthes,cltohes,colthes,lcothes

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clothes - 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.

cclothes1cllothes1clohtes2clotehs2clothess1clothhes1clothse2clotthes1
Edit distance from "clothes"

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 "clothes"?
"clothes" is spelled C-L-O-T-H-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /kləʊ(ð)z/.
What does "clothes" mean?
As a noun, "clothes" means: Items of clothing; apparel.
What words are commonly confused with "clothes"?
"clothes" is commonly confused with "cloths", "cloves", "clutches". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "clothes"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "clothes" is /kləʊ(ð)z/. 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 "clothes"?
From Middle English clothes, cloþes, plural of cloth, cloþ (“cloth, garment”), from Old English clāþas (“clothes”), plural of clāþ (“cloth”), equivalent to cloth + -es. Cognate with Scots clathes, claes (“clothes”), Danish klæder, Norwegian Bokmål... 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.

Using “clothes”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-L-O-T-H-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /kləʊ(ð)z/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “cloths” - see the side-by-side comparison. clothes vs cloths
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list