chews vs chins, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#37,850
“chews” frequency rank: #42,057
“chins” frequency rank: 79907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	chews	chins
Definition	plural of chew	plural of chin

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

chews

5 ch

chins

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chews (/t͡ʃuːz/) 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 79907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chews is recorded at frequency rank #37,850, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃuːz/. 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 79907, this pair ranks #21,008 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chews vs chins

Shared letters: chs. Private to "chews": ew. Private to "chins": in.

"chews" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "chins" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

chews ← cchews · cehws · chesw · chewss · chewws · chhews · chwes · hcews
chins ← cchins · chhins · chinns · chinss · chisn · chnis · cihns · hcins

Frequency comparison

chews#37,850

chins#42,057

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chews" and "chins" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "chews" or "chins"?

"chews" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,850 in our English list, against #42,057 for "chins". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering chews vs chins

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 “chews” entry
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