Which to use
“chess” and “chins” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,776
- “chess” frequency rank
- #42,057
- “chins” frequency rank
- 49833
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chess | chins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | plural of chin |
Where the eye mixes chess and chins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. chess and chins follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: chess vs chins
A purely visual mix-up. chess (/t͡ʃɛs/) and chins (/t͡ʃɪnz/) 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 49833, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chess is recorded at frequency rank #7,776, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɛs/. chins is at rank #42,057, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɪnz/.
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 49833, this pair ranks #179,858 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chess vs chins
Shared letters: chs. Private to "chess": e. Private to "chins": in.
"chess" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "chins" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chess" and "chins" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "chess" vs "chins" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chess" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #179,858 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chess" and "chins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chins vs chums". 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 #179,858 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.