Which to use
“chimera” and “chimes” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,823
- “chimera” frequency rank
- #26,720
- “chimes” frequency rank
- 61543
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chimera | chimes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Alternative letter-case form of Chimera, a supposed monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or serpent, killed by the hero Bellerophon. | plural of chime |
Where the eye mixes chimera and chimes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. chimera runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against chimes's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between chimera and chimes
A purely visual mix-up. chimera (/kaɪˈmɪɹə/) and chimes (/t͡ʃaɪmz/) 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 61543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chimera is recorded at frequency rank #34,823, classified as anoun, pronounced /kaɪˈmɪɹə/. chimes is at rank #26,720, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃaɪmz/.
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 61543, this pair ranks #93,656 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chimera vs chimes
Shared letters: cehim. Private to "chimera": ar. Private to "chimes": s.
"chimera" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "chimes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chimera" for "chimes" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "chimera" or "chimes" 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 "chimera" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chimes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #93,656 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chimera" and "chimes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Chiara vs chimera". 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 #93,656 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.