Which to use
“chums” and “cues” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,980
- “chums” frequency rank
- #14,305
- “cues” frequency rank
- 61285
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chums | cues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of chum | plural of cue |
Where the eye mixes chums and cues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: chums vs cues
A purely visual mix-up. chums (/t͡ʃʌmz/) and cues (/ˈkjuːz/) 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 61285, 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/. cues is at rank #14,305, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkjuːz/.
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 61285, this pair ranks #95,124 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of chums vs cues
Shared letters: csu. Private to "chums": hm. Private to "cues": e.
"chums" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC · "cues" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chums" and "cues" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "chums" vs "cues" - 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 "chums" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #95,124 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chums" and "cues" 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 #95,124 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.