Which to use
“childs” is a noun and “chilly” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,202
- “childs” frequency rank
- #14,916
- “chilly” frequency rank
- 38118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | childs | chilly |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of child | Cold enough to cause discomfort. |
Letter map: childs vs chilly
Shared letters muted; letters that set childs and chilly apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Grammar separator: childs vs chilly
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: childs is anoun and chillyanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
childs is recorded at frequency rank #23,202, classified as anoun. chilly is at rank #14,916, tagged as anadj, 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 38118, this pair ranks #288,666 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of childs vs chilly
Shared letters: chil. Private to "childs": ds. Private to "chilly": y.
"childs" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC · "chilly" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "childs" and "chilly" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "childs" or "chilly" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pair "childs" vs "chilly" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "childs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chilly" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #288,666 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "childs" and "chilly" 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 #288,666 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.