chimera
/kaɪˈmɪɹə/
"chimera" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“chimera” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #34,823 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #34,823
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 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.
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) |
Where “chimera” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for chimera is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kaɪˈmɪɹə/. Corpus data places it at rank #34,823 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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
How do you spell "chimera"?
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Using “chimera”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-H-I-M-E-R-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kaɪˈmɪɹə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Crimea” - see the side-by-side comparison. chimera vs Crimea
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.