childsvschilliConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#23,202
“childs” frequency rank
#19,786
“chilli” frequency rank
42988
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature childs chilli
Definition plural of child Alternative spelling of chili

Letter map: childs vs chilli

Shared letters muted; letters that set childs and chilli apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

6 ch
childs
6 ch
chilli

Pair insight - childs / chilli

childs and chilli are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

childs is recorded at frequency rank #23,202, classified as anoun. chilli is at rank #19,786, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪli/.

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 42988, this pair ranks #244,250 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of childs vs chilli

Shared letters: chil. Private to "childs": ds. Private to "chilli": -.

"childs" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC  ·  "chilli" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • childscchilds · chhilds · chidls · childds · childss · chillds · chilsd · chlids
  • chillicchilli · chhilli · chilil · chlili · cihlli · hcilli

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "childs" for "chilli" ever safe?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "childs" vs "chilli" - which ranks higher?
"chilli" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,786 in our English list, against #23,202 for "childs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "childs" and "chilli".

  • Full dictionary entry for "childs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chilli" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #244,250 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "childs" and "chilli" 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 #244,250 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list