# clutter

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈklʌtə(ɹ)/ · frequency rank #22,038

## Definitions
1. A confused disordered jumble of things.
2. Background echoes, from clouds etc., on a radar or sonar screen.
3. Alternative form of clowder (“collective noun for cats”).
4. Clatter; confused noise.
5. A Sperner family.

## Etymology
From Middle English cloteren (“to form clots; coagulate; heap on”), from clot (“clot”), equivalent to clot + -er (frequentative suffix). Compare Welsh cludair (“heap, pile”), cludeirio (“to heap”).

## Easily confused with
- **cutter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clutter-vs-cutter)
- **cutler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clutter-vs-cutler)
- **cotter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clutter-vs-cotter)
- **coulter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clutter-vs-coulter)
- **critter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clutter-vs-critter)
- **cluster** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cluster-vs-clutter)
- **chatter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chatter-vs-clutter)
- **clatter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clatter-vs-clutter)
- **clusters** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clusters-vs-clutter)

## Common misspellings (9)
`cclutter`, `cllutter`, `cltuter`, `cluter`, `clutetr`, `clutterr`, `cluttre`, `cultter`, `lcutter`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/clutter