Which to use
“clair” is an adjective and “Clare” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,086
- “clair” frequency rank
- #30,527
- “Clare” frequency rank
- 31613
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clair | Clare |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a l’éclat du jour, de la lumière. | Bourgade située dans le district de St Edmundsbury, dans le Suffolk, en Angleterre. |
Letter map: clair vs Clare
Shared letters muted; letters that set clair and Clare apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Grammar separator: clair vs Clare
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: clair is anadjective and Clareaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clair is recorded at frequency rank #1,086, classified as anadj, pronounced \klɛʁ\. Clare is at rank #30,527, tagged as aname.
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 31613, this pair ranks #302,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clair vs Clare
Shared letters: aclr. Private to "clair": i. Private to "Clare": e.
"clair" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "Clare" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clair" for "Clare" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "clair" or "Clare" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "clair" and "Clare".
- Full dictionary entry for "clair" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Clare" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #302,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clair" and "Clare" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Clare vs clavel". 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 #302,704 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.