Which to use
“chink” is a noun and “Chong” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,376
- “chink” frequency rank
- #23,780
- “Chong” frequency rank
- 70156
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chink | Chong |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A narrow opening such as a fissure or crack. | A surname. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chink and Chong apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chink is /t͡ʃɪŋk/ while Chong is /tʃɔŋ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70156, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chink is recorded at frequency rank #46,376, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɪŋk/. Chong is at rank #23,780, tagged as aname, pronounced /tʃɔŋ/.
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 70156, this pair ranks #51,655 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chink vs Chong
Shared letters: chn. Private to "chink": ik. Private to "Chong": go.
"chink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "Chong" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "chink" and "Chong" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "chink" or "Chong"?
Remembering chink vs Chong
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “chink”; for a name, it's “Chong”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chink” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable