chumsvschunksConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#46,980
“chums” frequency rank
#15,364
“chunks” frequency rank
62344
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chums chunks
Definition plural of chum plural of chunk

Where the eye mixes chums and chunks

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
chums
6 ch
chunks

Visual trap between chums and chunks

A purely visual mix-up. chums (/t͡ʃʌmz/) and chunks (/t͡ʃʌŋks/) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62344, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chums is recorded at frequency rank #46,980, classified as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃʌmz/. chunks is at rank #15,364, tagged as anoun, pronounced /t͡ʃʌŋks/.

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 62344, this pair ranks #89,030 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of chums vs chunks

Shared letters: chsu. Private to "chums": m. Private to "chunks": kn.

"chums" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "chunks" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chumscchums · chhums · chmus · chumms · chumss · chusm · cuhms · hcums
  • chunkscchunks · chhunks · chnuks · chukns · chunkks · chunkss · chunnks · chunsk

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chums" and "chunks" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/t͡ʃʌmz/ versus /t͡ʃʌŋks/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "chums" vs "chunks" - which ranks higher?
"chunks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,364 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.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chums" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chunks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #89,030 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chums" and "chunks" 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 #89,030 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list