Which to use
“chronicle” and “chronicles” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,181
- “chronicle” frequency rank
- #12,203
- “chronicles” frequency rank
- 23384
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chronicle | chronicles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A written account of events and when they happened, ordered by time. | plural of chronicle |
Where the eye mixes chronicle and chronicles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: chronicle vs chronicles
A purely visual mix-up. chronicle (/ˈkɹɒnɪkəl/) and chronicles (/ˈkɹɑnɪkl̩z/) 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 extra letter(s) - “chronicle” sits inside “chronicles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23384, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chronicle is recorded at frequency rank #11,181, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹɒnɪkəl/. chronicles is at rank #12,203, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɹɑnɪkl̩z/.
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 23384, this pair ranks #409,672 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of chronicle vs chronicles
Shared letters: cehilnor. Private to "chronicle": -. Private to "chronicles": s.
"chronicle" · 9 letters · shape CCCVCVCCV · "chronicles" · 10 letters · shape CCCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- chronicle ← cchronicle · chhronicle · chornicle · chrnoicle · chroincle · chroncile · chroniccle · chronicel
- chronicles ← cchronicles · chhronicles · chornicles · chrnoicles · chroincles · chronciles · chroniccles · chronicels
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "chronicle" and "chronicles" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "chronicle" or "chronicles"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chronicle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chronicles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #409,672 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chronicle" and "chronicles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chronicler vs chronicles". 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 #409,672 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.