Which to use
“childish” is an adjective and “childs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,662
- “childish” frequency rank
- #23,202
- “childs” frequency rank
- 33864
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | childish | childs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Immature in thought or behaviour. | plural of child |
Letter map: childish vs childs
Shared letters muted; letters that set childish and childs apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. childish runs 8 letters (CCVCCVCC) against childs's 6 (CCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: childish vs childs
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: childish is anadjective and childsanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33864, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
childish is recorded at frequency rank #10,662, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃaɪldɪʃ/. childs is at rank #23,202, tagged as anoun.
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 33864, this pair ranks #325,730 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of childish vs childs
Shared letters: cdhils. Private to "childish": -. Private to "childs": -.
"childish" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC · "childs" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "childish" and "childs" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "childish" or "childs"?
What to do next
You've compared "childish" and "childs". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "childish" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "childs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #325,730 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "childish" and "childs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "childs vs chives". 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 #325,730 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.