ChlorvsChromWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Chlor” and “Chrom” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#22,667
“Chlor” frequency rank
#20,877
“Chrom” frequency rank
43544
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Chlor Chrom
Definition chemisches Element mit der Ordnungszahl 17 chemisches Element mit der Ordnungszahl 24, das zu den Übergangsmetallen gehört

Where the eye mixes Chlor and Chrom

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Chlor
5 ch
Chrom

Visual trap between Chlor and Chrom

A purely visual mix-up. Chlor ([kloːɐ̯]) and Chrom ([kʁoːm]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43544, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Chlor is recorded at frequency rank #22,667, classified as anoun, pronounced [kloːɐ̯]. Chrom is at rank #20,877, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kʁoːm].

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 43544, this pair ranks #1,414,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Chlor vs Chrom

Shared letters: chor. Private to "Chlor": l. Private to "Chrom": m.

"Chlor" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC  ·  "Chrom" · 5 letters · shape CCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Chlorcchlor · chhlor · chllor · chlorr · chlro · cholr · clhor · hclor
  • Chromcchrom · chhrom · chorm · chrmo · chromm · chrrom · crhom · hcrom

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Chlor" for "Chrom" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kloːɐ̯] versus [kʁoːm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Chlor" or "Chrom" show up more?
"Chrom" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,877 in our German list, against #22,667 for "Chlor". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "Chlor" and "Chrom" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Chlor" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Chrom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,414,778 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Chlor" and "Chrom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Chlor vs Chlorid". 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 #1,414,778 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list