chewedvschimedWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,159
“chewed” frequency rank
#44,116
“chimed” frequency rank
65275
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chewed chimed
Definition simple past and past participle of chew simple past and past participle of chime

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chewed and chimed apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
chewed
6 ch
chimed

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chewed (/t͡ʃuːd/) and chimed (/t͡ʃaɪmd/) 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 65275, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chewed is recorded at frequency rank #21,159, classified as averb, pronounced /t͡ʃuːd/. chimed is at rank #44,116, tagged as averb, pronounced /t͡ʃaɪmd/.

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 65275, this pair ranks #73,564 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chewed vs chimed

Shared letters: cdeh. Private to "chewed": w. Private to "chimed": im.

"chewed" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "chimed" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chewedcchewed · cehwed · cheewd · chewde · chewedd · chewwed · chhewed · chweed
  • chimedcchimed · chhimed · chiemd · chimde · chimedd · chimmed · chmied · cihmed

Frequency comparison

chewed#21,159
chimed#44,116

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chewed" and "chimed" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/t͡ʃuːd/ versus /t͡ʃaɪmd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chewed" or "chimed"?
"chewed" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,159 in our English list, against #44,116 for "chimed". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering chewed vs chimed

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 “chewed” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list