Which to use
“clan” is a noun and “clean” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,412
- “clan” frequency rank
- #11,931
- “clean” frequency rank
- 16343
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clan | clean |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chez les Celtes, tribu formée d’un certain nombre de familles. | Propre, sans saleté. |
Where the eye mixes clan and clean
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between clan and clean
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clan is \klɑ̃\ 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clan is recorded at frequency rank #4,412, classified as anoun, pronounced \klɑ̃\. 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 16343, this pair ranks #388,253 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clan vs clean
Shared letters: acln. Private to "clan": -. Private to "clean": e.
"clan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "clean" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clan" for "clean" ever safe?
Which is more common, "clan" or "clean"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "clan" 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 #388,253 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clan" and "clean" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cen vs clean". 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 #388,253 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.