Which to use
“chefs” and “chess” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,202
- “chefs” frequency rank
- #7,776
- “chess” frequency rank
- 19978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chefs | chess |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of chef | A board game for two players, each beginning with sixteen chess pieces moving according to fixed rules across a chessboard with the objective to checkmate the opposing king. |
Where the eye mixes chefs and chess
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between chefs and chess
A purely visual mix-up. chefs (/ʃɛfs/) and chess (/t͡ʃɛs/) 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 a single letter - f in “chefs” becomes s in “chess”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chefs is recorded at frequency rank #12,202, classified as anoun, pronounced /ʃɛfs/. chess is at rank #7,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɛs/.
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 19978, this pair ranks #434,383 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of chefs vs chess
Shared letters: cehs. Private to "chefs": f. Private to "chess": -.
"chefs" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "chess" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chefs" for "chess" ever safe?
Which is more common, "chefs" or "chess"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "chefs" and "chess" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chefs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chess" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,383 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chefs" and "chess" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chefs vs Cheri". 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 #434,383 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.