clue
/kluː/
"clue" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“clue” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,306 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,306
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A strand of yarn etc. as used to guide one through a labyrinth; something which points the way, a guide.
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 | clue |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kluː/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #5,306 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “clue” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for clue is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kluː/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,306 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for clue, with forms such as "cclue", "cleu", and "cllue". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CU", "cut", "cup", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Variant of clew (“a ball of thread or yarn”), from Middle English clewe, from Old English clīewen (“ball”), from Proto-West Germanic *kliuwīn, from Proto-Germanic *kliuwīną, *klewô (“ball, bale”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to amass, conglomerate; cl… The correct English form is clue, spelled C-L-U-E.
Definition
- 1A strand of yarn etc. as used to guide one through a labyrinth; something which points the way, a guide.
- 2Information which may lead one to a certain point or conclusion.
- 3An object or a kind of indication which may be used as evidence.
- 4Insight or understanding ("to have a clue [about]" or "to have clue". See have a clue, clue stick)
- 5The text that indicates an answer in a crossword puzzle.
Etymology
Variant of clew (“a ball of thread or yarn”), from Middle English clewe, from Old English clīewen (“ball”), from Proto-West Germanic *kliuwīn, from Proto-Germanic *kliuwīną, *klewô (“ball, bale”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to amass, conglomerate; clump, ball, bale”). Sense evolution with reference to the one which the mythical Theseus used to guide him out of the Minotaur's labyrinth. More at clew.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: cclue,cleu,cllue,cule,lcue
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clue - 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
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Using “clue”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-L-U-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kluː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “CU” - see the side-by-side comparison. clue vs CU
- 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.