Which to use
“chins” and “clans” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,057
- “chins” frequency rank
- #15,986
- “clans” frequency rank
- 58043
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chins | clans |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of chin | plural of clan |
Where the eye mixes chins and clans
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: chins vs clans
A purely visual mix-up. chins (/t͡ʃɪnz/) and clans (/klænz/) 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 58043, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chins is recorded at frequency rank #42,057, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃɪnz/. clans is at rank #15,986, tagged as anoun, pronounced /klænz/.
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 58043, this pair ranks #115,215 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chins vs clans
Shared letters: cns. Private to "chins": hi. Private to "clans": al.
"chins" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "clans" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chins" and "clans" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "chins" or "clans"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clans" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #115,215 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chins" and "clans" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chins vs chums". 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 #115,215 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.