Which to use
“catty” and “chitty” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,246
- “catty” frequency rank
- #41,551
- “chitty” frequency rank
- 90797
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | catty | chitty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | With subtle hostility in an effort to hurt, annoy, or upset, particularly among women. | Full of chits or sprouts. |
Where the eye mixes catty and chitty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: catty vs chitty
A purely visual mix-up. catty (/ˈkæti/) and chitty (/ˈt͡ʃɪti/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90797, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
catty is recorded at frequency rank #49,246, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkæti/. chitty is at rank #41,551, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪti/.
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 90797, this pair ranks #3,857 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of catty vs chitty
Shared letters: cty. Private to "catty": a. Private to "chitty": hi.
"catty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "chitty" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "catty" for "chitty" ever safe?
Which is more common, "catty" or "chitty"?
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 "catty" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chitty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #3,857 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "catty" and "chitty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cates vs catty". 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 #3,857 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.