# chief vs child

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### chief
*noun · IPA /t͡ʃiːf/ · frequency rank #804*
The leader or head of a tribe, organisation, business unit, or other group.

### child
*noun · IPA /tʃaɪld/ · frequency rank #500*
A person who has not yet reached adulthood, whether natural (puberty), cultural (initiation), or legal (majority).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/chief-vs-child