chapsvscorpsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#24,698
“chaps” frequency rank
#4,517
“corps” frequency rank
29215
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chaps corps
Definition plural of chap A battlefield formation composed of two or more divisions.

Where the eye mixes chaps and corps

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

5 ch
chaps
5 ch
corps

Why the eye confuses chaps with corps

A purely visual mix-up. chaps (/t͡ʃæps/) and corps (/kɔː/) 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 29215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chaps is recorded at frequency rank #24,698, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃæps/. corps is at rank #4,517, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɔː/.

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 29215, this pair ranks #364,881 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chaps vs corps

Shared letters: cps. Private to "chaps": ah. Private to "corps": or.

"chaps" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "corps" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chapscahps · cchaps · chapps · chapss · chasp · chhaps · chpas · hcaps
  • corpsccorps · coprs · corpps · corpss · corrps · corsp · ocrps

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "chaps" and "corps" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/t͡ʃæps/ versus /kɔː/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary English text, does "chaps" or "corps" show up more?
"corps" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,517 in our English list, against #24,698 for "chaps". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "chaps" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "corps" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #364,881 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chaps" and "corps" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Chaim vs chaps". 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 #364,881 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