chaptervschasteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: chapter is a noun, chaste is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“chapter” is a noun and “chaste” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,245
“chapter” frequency rank
#36,921
“chaste” frequency rank
39166
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chapter chaste
Definition One of the main sections into which a published work is divided, especially a book. Synonym of pure and virtuous, particularly

Where the eye mixes chapter and chaste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
chapter
6 ch
chaste

Look-alike desk: chapter vs chaste

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chapter is /ˈt͡ʃæptə(r)/ while chaste is /t͡ʃeɪst/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chapter is recorded at frequency rank #2,245, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃæptə(r)/. chaste is at rank #36,921, tagged as anadj, pronounced /t͡ʃeɪst/.

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 39166, this pair ranks #279,229 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chapter vs chaste

Shared letters: aceht. Private to "chapter": pr. Private to "chaste": s.

"chapter" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "chaste" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chaptercahpter · cchapter · chapetr · chappter · chapterr · chaptre · chaptter · chatper
  • chastecahste · cchaste · chaset · chasste · chastte · chatse · chhaste · chsate

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "chapter" and "chaste" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "chapter" is a noun and "chaste" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "chapter" vs "chaste" - which ranks higher?
"chapter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,245 in our English list, against #36,921 for "chaste". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chapter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chaste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #279,229 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chapter" and "chaste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chaise vs chaste". 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 #279,229 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