Which to use
“chill” and “chink” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,304
- “chill” frequency rank
- #46,376
- “chink” frequency rank
- 51680
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chill | chink |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A moderate, but uncomfortable and penetrating coldness. | A narrow opening such as a fissure or crack. |
Where the eye mixes chill and chink
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. chill and chink follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between chill and chink
A purely visual mix-up. chill (/tʃɪl/) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chill is recorded at frequency rank #5,304, classified as anoun, pronounced /tʃɪl/. 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 51680, this pair ranks #163,424 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chill vs chink
Shared letters: chi. Private to "chill": l. Private to "chink": kn.
"chill" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "chink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "chill" and "chink" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "chill" or "chink"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chill" 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 #163,424 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chill" 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 #163,424 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.