Which to use
“chime” and “chimney” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,111
- “chime” frequency rank
- #13,882
- “chimney” frequency rank
- 37993
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chime | chimney |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A musical instrument producing a sound when struck, similar to a bell (e.g. a tubular metal bar) or actually a bell. Often used in the plural to refer to the set: the chimes. | A vertical tube or hollow column used to emit environmentally polluting gaseous and solid matter (including but not limited to by-products of burning carbon- or hydrocarbon-based fuels); a flue. |
Where the eye mixes chime and chimney
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. chime runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against chimney's 7 (CCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses chime with chimney
A purely visual mix-up. chime (/tʃaɪm/) and chimney (/ˈt͡ʃɪmni/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chime is recorded at frequency rank #24,111, classified as anoun, pronounced /tʃaɪm/. chimney is at rank #13,882, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪmni/.
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 37993, this pair ranks #289,759 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chime vs chimney
Shared letters: cehim. Private to "chime": -. Private to "chimney": ny.
"chime" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "chimney" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "chime" and "chimney" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary English text, does "chime" or "chimney" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chimney" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,759 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chime" and "chimney" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Chaim vs chime". 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 #289,759 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.