chimera
/kaɪˈmɪɹə/
"chimera" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“chimera” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #34,823. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #34,823
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative letter-case form of Chimera, a supposed monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or serpent, killed by the hero Bellerophon.
Corpus desk
Index EN-chimera · chimera · English
chimera · rank #34,823 · 10 variants · 7 confusables
- FREQ-MID #34,823
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
- VAR-MID 10 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH Chicano
Nearest frequency peer: Chicano (-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 “chimera”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- characteris…
characteristically
65,182 corpus weight
- Chicano
Chicano
65,179 corpus weight
- chimera
chimera
65,178 corpus weight
- chiropractor
chiropractor
65,177 corpus weight
- CHR
CHR
65,176 corpus weight
- chromosomal
chromosomal
65,175 corpus weight
What this shows “chimera” 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 | chimera |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kaɪˈmɪɹə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #34,823 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “chimera”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around chimera (IPA /kaɪˈmɪɹə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #34,823 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for chimera, with forms such as "cchimera", "chhimera", and "chiemra". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "Crimea", "chimes", "cholera", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Variant of Middle English chimere, chymere, & chymera under renewed Latin influence from the 16th century, from French chimère, from Latin Chimaera, from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira, “fire-breathing mythological monster, fire-spewing Lycian or Cilician … The correct English form is chimera, spelled C-H-I-M-E-R-A.
Definition
- 1Alternative letter-case form of Chimera, a supposed monster in Lycia with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a dragon or serpent, killed by the hero Bellerophon.
- 2Any fantastic creature combining parts from different animals.
- 3A foolish, incongruous, or vain thought or product of the imagination.
- 4Anything composed of very disparate parts.
- 5A grotesque like a gargoyle, but without a spout for rainwater.
- 6An organism with genetically distinct cells originating from two or more zygotes.
- 7Alternative form of chimaera, a cartilaginous marine fish in the subclass Holocephali and especially the order Chimaeriformes, with a blunt snout, long tail, and a spine before the first dorsal fin.
- 8Synonym of bogeyman: any terrifying thing, especially as an unreal, imagined threat.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how chimera appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
...beestis clepid chymeres, that han a part of ech beest, and suche ben not, no but oonly in opynyoun...
Bellerophon was commanded to destroy this monster, and with the assistance of the flying horse, Pegasus, he slew the chimera.
Etymology
Variant of Middle English chimere, chymere, & chymera under renewed Latin influence from the 16th century, from French chimère, from Latin Chimaera, from Ancient Greek Χίμαιρα (Khímaira, “fire-breathing mythological monster, fire-spewing Lycian or Cilician mountain”), from χίμαιρα (khímaira, “she-goat”, from χίμαρος (khímaros, “male goat”) + -α (-a)), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰey-. In reference to the fish, directly from Latin Chimaera, used by Linnaeus. In reference to organisms with distinct areas of different genetic makeups, a calque of German Chimäre, used by Hans Winkler in 1907.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- cchimera
- chhimera
- chiemra
- chimear
- chimerra
- chimmera
- chimrea
- chmiera
- cihmera
- hcimera
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of chimera - 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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "chimera", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).