Which to use
“chicks” and “chink” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,649
- “chicks” frequency rank
- #46,376
- “chink” frequency rank
- 55025
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chicks | chink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of chick | A narrow opening such as a fissure or crack. |
Where the eye mixes chicks and chink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. chicks runs 6 letters (CCVCCC) against chink's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between chicks and chink
A purely visual mix-up. chicks (/t͡ʃɪks/) and chink (/t͡ʃɪŋk/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55025, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chicks is recorded at frequency rank #8,649, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɪks/. chink is at rank #46,376, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɪŋk/.
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 55025, this pair ranks #136,711 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chicks vs chink
Shared letters: chik. Private to "chicks": s. Private to "chink": n.
"chicks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC · "chink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chicks" for "chink" ever safe?
Frequency check: "chicks" vs "chink" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chicks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chink" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #136,711 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chicks" and "chink" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chibi vs chink". 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 #136,711 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.