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 eye mixes chum and chums
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. chum runs 4 letters (CCVC) against chums's 5 (CCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: chum vs chums
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chum" for "chums" ever safe?
Frequency check: "chum" vs "chums" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "chum" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chums" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #28,684 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chum" and "chums" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chums vs coms". 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 #28,684 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.