chats vs chums, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#17,788
“chats” frequency rank: #46,980
“chums” frequency rank: 64768
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	chats	chums
Definition	plural of chat	plural of chum

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chats and chums apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

chats

5 ch

chums

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chats (/t͡ʃæts/) and chums (/t͡ʃʌmz/) 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 64768, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chats is recorded at frequency rank #17,788, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃæts/. chums is at rank #46,980, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃʌmz/.

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 64768, this pair ranks #76,087 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chats vs chums

Shared letters: chs. Private to "chats": at. Private to "chums": mu.

"chats" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "chums" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

chats ← cahts · cchats · chast · chatss · chatts · chhats · chtas · hcats
chums ← cchums · chhums · chmus · chumms · chumss · chusm · cuhms · hcums

Frequency comparison

chats#17,788

chums#46,980

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chats" and "chums" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/t͡ʃæts/ versus /t͡ʃʌmz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "chats" or "chums"?

"chats" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,788 in our English list, against #46,980 for "chums". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering chats vs chums

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chats” entry
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