chum vs chums, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“chum” and “chums” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#29,966
“chum” frequency rank: #46,980
“chums” frequency rank: 76946
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	chum	chums
Definition	A friend; a pal.	plural of chum

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chum and chums apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

chum

5 ch

chums

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chum (/t͡ʃʌm/) and chums (/t͡ʃʌmz/) 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) - “chum” sits inside “chums”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76946, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chum is recorded at frequency rank #29,966, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃʌm/. chums is at rank #46,980, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃʌmz/.

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 76946, this pair ranks #28,684 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chum vs chums

Shared letters: chmu. Private to "chum": -. Private to "chums": s.

"chum" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "chums" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

chum ← cchum · chhum · chmu · chumm · cuhm · hcum
chums ← cchums · chhums · chmus · chumms · chumss · chusm · cuhms · hcums

Frequency comparison

chum#29,966

chums#46,980

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chum" and "chums" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/t͡ʃʌm/ versus /t͡ʃʌmz/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "chum" or "chums"?

"chum" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,966 in our English list, against #46,980 for "chums". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering chum vs chums

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chum” entry
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