Which to use
“chink” and “coins” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,376
- “chink” frequency rank
- #4,588
- “coins” frequency rank
- 50964
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chink | coins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A narrow opening such as a fissure or crack. | plural of coin |
Where the eye mixes chink and coins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses chink with coins
A purely visual mix-up. chink (/t͡ʃɪŋk/) and coins (/kɔɪnz/) 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 50964, 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/. coins is at rank #4,588, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɔɪnz/.
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 50964, this pair ranks #169,568 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chink vs coins
Shared letters: cin. Private to "chink": hk. Private to "coins": os.
"chink" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "coins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "chink" and "coins" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "chink" or "coins"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "chink" and "coins" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chink" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #169,568 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chink" and "coins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chibi vs chink". 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 #169,568 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.