Which to use
“chance” and “chancery” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #548
- “chance” frequency rank
- #32,314
- “chancery” frequency rank
- 32862
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chance | chancery |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An opportunity or possibility. | In England, formerly, the highest court of judicature next to the Parliament, exercising jurisdiction at law, but chiefly in equity; but under the jurisdiction act of 1873 it became the chancery division of the High Court of Justice, and now exercises jurisdiction only in equity |
Where the eye mixes chance and chancery
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. chance runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against chancery's 8 (CCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: chance vs chancery
A purely visual mix-up. chance (/t͡ʃæns/) and chancery (/ˈt͡ʃɑːnsəɹɪ/) 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 extra letter(s) - “chance” sits inside “chancery”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32862, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chance is recorded at frequency rank #548, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃæns/. chancery is at rank #32,314, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɑːnsəɹɪ/.
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 32862, this pair ranks #334,267 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chance vs chancery
Shared letters: acehn. Private to "chance": -. Private to "chancery": ry.
"chance" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "chancery" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chance" for "chancery" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "chance" or "chancery" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chancery" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #334,267 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chance" and "chancery" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cannery vs chancery". 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 #334,267 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.