Which to use
“chancery” and “chances” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,314
- “chancery” frequency rank
- #2,930
- “chances” frequency rank
- 35244
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chancery | chances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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 | plural of chance |
Where the eye mixes chancery and chances
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. chancery runs 8 letters (CCVCCVCV) against chances's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses chancery with chances
A purely visual mix-up. chancery (/ˈt͡ʃɑːnsəɹɪ/) and chances (/ˈt͡ʃænsɪz/) 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 35244, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chancery is recorded at frequency rank #32,314, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɑːnsəɹɪ/. chances is at rank #2,930, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃænsɪz/.
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 35244, this pair ranks #313,623 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chancery vs chances
Shared letters: acehn. Private to "chancery": ry. Private to "chances": s.
"chancery" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV · "chances" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chancery" and "chances" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "chancery" or "chances" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chancery" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chances" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #313,623 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chancery" and "chances" 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 #313,623 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.