clutch
/klʌt͡ʃ/
"clutch" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“clutch” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,523. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #8,523
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To seize, as though with claws.
Corpus desk
Index EN-clutch · clutch · English
clutch · rank #8,523 · 10 variants · 11 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #8,523
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
- VAR-MID 10 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH choir
Nearest frequency peer: choir (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “clutch”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- candle
candle
91,481 corpus weight
- carved
carved
91,480 corpus weight
- choir
choir
91,479 corpus weight
- clutch
clutch
91,478 corpus weight
- coconut
coconut
91,477 corpus weight
- committing
committing
91,476 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “clutch” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | clutch |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /klʌt͡ʃ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #8,523 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “clutch” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around clutch (IPA /klʌt͡ʃ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #8,523 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for clutch, with forms such as "cclutch", "cllutch", and "cltuch". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "couch", "crunch", "crotch", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English clucchen, clicchen, cluchen, clechen, cleken, from Old English clyċċan (“to clutch, clench”), from Proto-West Germanic *klukkjan, from Proto-Germanic *klukjaną, from Proto-Germanic *klu- (“to ball up, conglomerate, amass”), from Proto-In… The correct English form is clutch, spelled C-L-U-T-C-H.
Definition
- 1To seize, as though with claws.
- 2To grip or grasp tightly.
- 3To win despite being the only remaining player on one's team, against several opponents.
- 4To unexpectedly or luckily succeed in a difficult activity.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how clutch appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
to clutch power
A man may set the poles together in his head, and clutch the whole globe at one intellectual grasp.
Etymology
From Middle English clucchen, clicchen, cluchen, clechen, cleken, from Old English clyċċan (“to clutch, clench”), from Proto-West Germanic *klukkjan, from Proto-Germanic *klukjaną, from Proto-Germanic *klu- (“to ball up, conglomerate, amass”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to ball up; lump, mass”). Cognate with Swedish klyka (“clamp, fork, branch”). The noun is from Middle English cleche, cloche, cloke ("claw, talon, hand"; compare Scots cleuk, cluke, cluik (“claw, talon”)), of uncertain origin, with the form probably assimilated to the verb. Alternative etymology derives Old English clyċċan from Proto-Germanic *klēk- (“claw, hand”), from Proto-Indo-European *glēk-, *ǵlēḱ- (“claw, hand; to clutch, snatch”). If so, then cognate with Irish glac (“hand”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- cclutch
- cllutch
- cltuch
- clucth
- clutcch
- clutchh
- cluthc
- cluttch
- cultch
- lcutch
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clutch - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "clutch"?
What does "clutch" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "clutch"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "clutch", 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 (10 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "clutch". Here's where to go from here.
- "clutch" maps to 11 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "couch". View pair
- 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #8,523 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.