Which to use
“clac” is an onomatopoeia and “clean” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,310
- “clac” frequency rank
- #11,931
- “clean” frequency rank
- 48241
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clac | clean |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Onomatopée qui traduit un bruit sec et rapide. | Propre, sans saleté. |
Where the eye mixes clac and clean
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clac and clean
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clac is \klak\ while clean is \klin\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (onomatopoeia vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clac is recorded at frequency rank #36,310, classified as anonomatopoeia, pronounced \klak\. clean is at rank #11,931, tagged as anadj, pronounced \klin\.
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 48241, this pair ranks #180,503 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clac vs clean
Shared letters: acl. Private to "clac": -. Private to "clean": en.
"clac" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "clean" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clac" and "clean" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "clac" or "clean" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "clac" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clean" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #180,503 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clac" and "clean" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chah vs clac". 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 #180,503 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.