Which to use
“chime” and “chisel” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,111
- “chime” frequency rank
- #30,363
- “chisel” frequency rank
- 54474
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chime | chisel |
|---|---|---|
| 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 cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end; there are hand tool versions (the original type) and versions as bits for power tools. |
Where the eye mixes chime and chisel
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: chime vs chisel
A purely visual mix-up. chime (/tʃaɪm/) and chisel (/ˈt͡ʃɪzəl/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54474, 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/. chisel is at rank #30,363, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪzəl/.
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 54474, this pair ranks #140,834 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chime vs chisel
Shared letters: cehi. Private to "chime": m. Private to "chisel": ls.
"chime" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "chisel" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chime" for "chisel" ever safe?
Frequency check: "chime" vs "chisel" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chisel" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #140,834 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chime" and "chisel" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chisel 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 #140,834 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.