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” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,932. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,932
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Items of clothing; apparel.

Corpus desk

Index EN-clothes · clothes · English

clothes · rank #1,932 · 11 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,932
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH classic

Nearest frequency peer: classic (-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 “clothes”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “clothes” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

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)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “clothes”

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

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “classic” (#1,931), “decisions” (#1,933), “citizens” (#1,930). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “clothes” is #1,932. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around clothes (IPA /kləʊ(ð)z/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,932 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. suit of clothes.
  2. Even in an era when individuality in dress is a cult, his clothes were noticeable. He was wearing a hard hat of the low round kind favoured by hunting men, and with it a black duffle-coat lined with white.

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "clothes", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

classic#1,931Britain#1,929entered#1,936victory#1,926

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

Spanish11 variantsjohnson11 variantsmountain11 variantsmention11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list