chilly
/ˈt͡ʃɪli/
"chilly" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“chilly” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,916. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #14,916
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Cold enough to cause discomfort.
Corpus desk
Index EN-chilly · chilly · English
chilly · rank #14,916 · 8 variants · 15 confusables
- FREQ-MID #14,916
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 15 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH centred
Nearest frequency peer: centred (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “chilly”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Cannes
Cannes
85,088 corpus weight
- canoe
canoe
85,087 corpus weight
- centred
centred
85,086 corpus weight
- chilly
chilly
85,085 corpus weight
- chu
chu
85,083 corpus weight
- cider
cider
85,082 corpus weight
What this shows “chilly” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chilly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈt͡ʃɪli/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #14,916 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “chilly” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around chilly (IPA /ˈt͡ʃɪli/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #14,916 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for chilly, with forms such as "cchilly", "chhilly", and "chillyy". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "chitty", "coolly", "chippy", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From chill + -y. Cognate with Swedish kylig (“chilly”), Norwegian kjølig (“chilly”). The correct English form is chilly, spelled C-H-I-L-L-Y.
Definition
- 1Cold enough to cause discomfort.
- 2Feeling uncomfortably cold.
- 3Distant and cool; unfriendly.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how chilly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[…] The Aſparagus grew; but in three or four Years complained, by coming up ſmall; occaſioned by the chilly Effluvia, that proceeded from the Water lodg'd at the bottom of the Pit; […]
The Alps, the woods, and marſhes of the vaſt region of Scandinavia (for I will conſider it in the great) give ſhelter to numbers of quadrupeds unknown to Britain. Thoſe who brave the ſeverity of the extreme north of this country are diſtinguiſhed by the addition of the Lapland name. The Elk, Nº 3 of this Work, is found in many parts: the Rein, Godde, Nº 4…
Etymology
From chill + -y. Cognate with Swedish kylig (“chilly”), Norwegian kjølig (“chilly”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- cchilly
- chhilly
- chillyy
- chily
- chilyl
- chlily
- cihlly
- hcilly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of chilly - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "chilly"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "chilly", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).