chem
/kɛm/noun, adjective
chem is spelled C-H-E-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, chem means “Clipping of chemistry (“branch of natural science”), usually referring to the subject or the department” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of chem is chems.
How many letters and syllables are in chem?
| Letters | 4: C-H-E-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.9 times per million words; the 15,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is chem?
Chem appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce chem?
- /kɛm/
Chem has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-chem.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with chem?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as chem.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: mech.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of chem
- chems plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does chem mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Clipping of chemistry (“branch of natural science”), usually referring to the subject or the department.
- 2
informalClipping of chemical.
- 3
informalA chemical weapon.
- 4
informalA recreational drug.
adjective
- 1
informalClipping of chemical.
chem plant; chem weapons
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chem in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense chemistry:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Chem. |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does chem come from?
Clippings.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).