Which to use
“chicken” and “chickens” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,334
- “chicken” frequency rank
- #9,297
- “chickens” frequency rank
- 11631
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chicken | chickens |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A domesticated subspecies of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus domesticus). | plural of chicken |
Where the eye mixes chicken and chickens
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. chicken runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against chickens's 8 (CCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between chicken and chickens
A purely visual mix-up. chicken (/ˈt͡ʃɪkɪn/) and chickens (/ˈt͡ʃɪkɪnz/) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “chicken” sits inside “chickens”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11631, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chicken is recorded at frequency rank #2,334, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪkɪn/. chickens is at rank #9,297, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪkɪnz/.
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 11631, this pair ranks #485,989 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of chicken vs chickens
Shared letters: cehikn. Private to "chicken": -. Private to "chickens": s.
"chicken" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "chickens" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chicken" for "chickens" ever safe?
Frequency check: "chicken" vs "chickens" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chicken" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chickens" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #485,989 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chicken" and "chickens" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chicken vs clicker". 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 #485,989 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.