Which to use
“chime” and “chums” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,111
- “chime” frequency rank
- #46,980
- “chums” frequency rank
- 71091
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chime | chums |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | plural of chum |
Where the eye mixes chime and chums
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. chime (CCVCV) and chums (CCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses chime with chums
A purely visual mix-up. chime (/tʃaɪm/) and chums (/t͡ʃʌmz/) 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 71091, 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/. chums is at rank #46,980, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃʌmz/.
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 71091, this pair ranks #48,034 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chime vs chums
Shared letters: chm. Private to "chime": ei. Private to "chums": su.
"chime" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "chums" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chime" for "chums" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "chime" or "chums" show up more?
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 "chums" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,034 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chime" and "chums" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chums vs coms". 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 #48,034 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.