clave
[ˈklaβ̞e]
The verdict
“clave” is a regularly-used Spanish word, ranked #1,401 in Spanish word frequency and used as a noun.
- #1,401
- frequency rank, Spanish
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Explicación de los signos convenidos para escribir en cifra, o de cualesquiera otros distintos de los conocidos o usuales.
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 | clave |
| Language | Spanish |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ˈklaβ̞e] |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #1,401 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “clave” sits in Spanish frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The Spanish entry for clave is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˈklaβ̞e]. Corpus data places it at rank #1,401 in overall Spanish word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for clave, with forms such as "calve", "cclave", and "clabe". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "clay", "clavo", "close", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct Spanish form is clave, spelled C-L-A-V-E.
Definition
- 1Explicación de los signos convenidos para escribir en cifra, o de cualesquiera otros distintos de los conocidos o usuales.
- 2Nota o explicación que necesitan algunos libros o escritos para la inteligencia de su composición artificiosa.
- 3Nota o idea por la cual se hace comprensible algo que era enigmático.
- 4Llave₁.
- 5Piedra con que se cierra el arco o bóveda.
- 6Signo que se pone al principio del pentagrama para determinar el nombre de las notas.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: calve,cclave,clabe,claev,clavve,cllave,clvae,lcave
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clave - 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 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "clave"?
What does "clave" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "clave"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “clave”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Spanish spelling is C-L-A-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˈklaβ̞e] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “clay” - see the side-by-side comparison. clave vs clay
- Browse more Spanish words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Spanish 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.