Which to use
“chilli” and “chills” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,786
- “chilli” frequency rank
- #16,665
- “chills” frequency rank
- 36451
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chilli | chills |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative spelling of chili | plural of chill |
Where the eye mixes chilli and chills
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: chilli vs chills
A purely visual mix-up. chilli (/ˈt͡ʃɪli/) and chills (/t͡ʃɪlz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - i in “chilli” becomes s in “chills”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chilli is recorded at frequency rank #19,786, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪli/. chills is at rank #16,665, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɪlz/.
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 36451, this pair ranks #303,112 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chilli vs chills
Shared letters: chil. Private to "chilli": -. Private to "chills": s.
"chilli" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "chills" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chilli" for "chills" ever safe?
Which is more common, "chilli" or "chills"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "chilli" and "chills" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chilli" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chills" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #303,112 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chilli" and "chills" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Charli vs chilli". 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 #303,112 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.