clown

\klun\

/\klun\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“clown” has 8 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #8,974. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,974
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Acteur qui, dans les cirques, fait des exercices d’équilibre et de souplesse tout en jouant un rôle bouffon. Il porte habituellement un accoutrement grotesque.

Corpus desk

Index FR-clown · clown · French

clown · rank #8,974 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,974
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH citoyenneté

Nearest frequency peer: citoyenneté (-1 rank slots)

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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « clown »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « clown » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

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).

clown vs con
60% similar
clown vs cow
60% similar
clown vs coin
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for clown
PropertyValue
Headwordclown
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\klun\
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,974
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « clown »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.clownse place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « citoyenneté » (#8,973), « combiné » (#8,975), « Chloé » (#8,972). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « clown » est au #8,974. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around clown (IPA \klun\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,974 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for clown, with forms such as "cclown", "cllown", and "clonw". 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, "con", "cow", "coin", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is clown, spelled C-L-O-W-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Acteur qui, dans les cirques, fait des exercices d’équilibre et de souplesse tout en jouant un rôle bouffon. Il porte habituellement un accoutrement grotesque.
  2. 2
    Quelqu’un qui n’est pas sérieux, un trublion.
  3. 3
    Nom abrégé du poisson-clown.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Par ces temps de pantagruélisme, où le succès, chez nous, est aux bateleurs, où la gloire est aux clowns, où le trapèze de Léotard fait merveille, où Blondin triomphe sur la corde roide, les badauds des deux mondes trouveraient peut-être encore des émotions neuves au spectacle des exercices de force et d’adresse des Cingalais.
  2. Numéro de magie-illusion, jongleries et acrobaties en tous genres, sketchs comiques avec les clowns, moment de rire avec Lucky le chien comédien, etc.

Synonyms

amuseurfarceurfoufoufouguignolmalinmalinemariolmariolemariollepitreplaisantinzouaveamphiprionpoisson-clownbouffon

This word in other languages

clown(English)payaso(Español)Clown(Deutsch)palhaço(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cclown
  • cllown
  • clonw
  • clownn
  • clowwn
  • clwon
  • colwn
  • lcown

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clown - 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.

cclown1cllown1clonw2clownn1clowwn1clwon2colwn2lcown2
Edit distance from "clown"

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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "clown"?
"clown" is spelled C-L-O-W-N. The IPA pronunciation is \klun\.
What does "clown" mean?
As a noun, "clown" means: Acteur qui, dans les cirques, fait des exercices d’équilibre et de souplesse tout en jouant un rôle bouffon. Il porte habituellement un accoutrement grotesque.
What words are commonly confused with "clown"?
"clown" is commonly confused with "con", "cow", "coin". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "clown"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "clown" is \klun\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "clown" come from?
"clown" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Chloé#8,972chars#8,971bouts#8,966dotée#8,986

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Audrey8 variantsaident8 variantsfirst8 variantstrêve8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list