chainsvschinConfusable pair

Which to use

“chains” and “chin” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,944
“chains” frequency rank
#7,106
“chin” frequency rank
13050
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chains chin
Definition plural of chain The bottom of a face, (specifically) the typically jutting jawline below the mouth.

Where the eye mixes chains and chin

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
chains
4 ch
chin

Look-alike desk: chains vs chin

A purely visual mix-up. chains (/t͡ʃeɪnz/) and chin (/t͡ʃɪn/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13050, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chains is recorded at frequency rank #5,944, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃeɪnz/. chin is at rank #7,106, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɪn/.

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 13050, this pair ranks #478,049 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of chains vs chin

Shared letters: chin. Private to "chains": as. Private to "chin": -.

"chains" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCC  ·  "chin" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chainscahins · cchains · chainns · chainss · chaisn · chanis · chhains · chians
  • chincchin · chhin · chinn · chni · cihn · hcin

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "chains" for "chin" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/t͡ʃeɪnz/ versus /t͡ʃɪn/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chains" or "chin"?
"chains" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,944 in our English list, against #7,106 for "chin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #478,049 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chains" and "chin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCI vs chin". 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 #478,049 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list