chlorevscloreWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: chlore is a noun, clore is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“chlore” is a noun and “clore” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,148
“chlore” frequency rank
#18,684
“clore” frequency rank
36832
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chlore clore
Definition Élément chimique de numéro atomique 17 et de symbole Cl qui fait partie des halogènes. Fermer, enfermer, mettre dans une enceinte.

Same sound, different letters: chlore vs clore

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.

6 ch
chlore
5 ch
clore

Homophone desk: chlore vs clore

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: chlore and clore carry the same recorded pronunciation, \klɔʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chlore is recorded at frequency rank #18,148, classified as anoun, pronounced \klɔʁ\. clore is at rank #18,684, tagged as averb, pronounced \klɔʁ\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 36832, this pair ranks #266,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chlore vs clore

Shared letters: celor. Private to "chlore": h. Private to "clore": -.

"chlore" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV  ·  "clore" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chlorecchlore · chhlore · chllore · chloer · chlorre · chlroe · cholre · clhore
  • clorecclore · cllore · cloer · clorre · clroe · colre · lcore

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chlore" and "clore" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "chlore" is a noun and "clore" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "chlore" vs "clore" - which ranks higher?
"chlore" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,148 in our French list, against #18,684 for "clore". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

"chlore" and "clore" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chlore" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clore" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #266,828 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chlore" and "clore" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clore vs cork". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #266,828 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list