chanza

[ˈt͡ʃãnsa]

/[ˈt͡ʃãnsa]/ noun

The verdict

“chanza” is uncommon Spanish (frequency #73,465 among 8,288 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,465
frequency rank, Spanish
8,288
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Acción o dicho ingenioso hecho para divertir.

Corpus desk

Index ES-chanza · chanza · Spanish

chanza · rank #73,465 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,465
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,288
  • PHOTO-FINISH certain

Nearest frequency peer: certain (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangos de cola larga cerca de “chanza”

Banda escasa: las barras invierten el rango para que lo raro se lea más corto

corpus weight

What this shows Vista de cola larga: dónde “chanza” se sitúa frente a rangos españoles igualmente raros.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for chanza
PropertyValue
Headwordchanza
LanguageSpanish
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈt͡ʃãnsa]
Letters6
Frequency rank#73,465
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Cola larga: rango de “chanza” en español

Esta escala corre desde el núcleo del español cotidiano (izquierda) hasta el rastro de formas rara vez usadas (derecha).chanzacae en esta cola de rareza:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Los ticks avanzan en logaritmo; cada uno es del orden de diez veces más raro. Vecinos raros de la misma franja: “certain” (#73,464), “cercanamente” (#73,462), “chil” (#73,468). Entre 8,288 lemas con “C”, “chanza” va en #73,465. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

chanza is uncommon Spanish at frequency #73,465 among 8,288 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ˈt͡ʃãnsa]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for chanza, a sign its spelling follows regular Spanish conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct Spanish form is chanza, spelled C-H-A-N-Z-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Acción o dicho ingenioso hecho para divertir.
  2. 2
    Hecho burlesco para recrear el ánimo o ejercitar el ingenio.
  3. 3
    Condición o carácter de astuto o sagaz.
  4. 4
    Oportunidad.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how chanza appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. —Caso fue espantoso —dijo Florino— y más dio en qué entender a los presentes, cuando con juramento afirmaba el hidalgo haberlo dicho por chanza y haciendo burla.
  2. Envidia, rencor y vanidad ocupan demasiado tales pechos para que en ellos quepan la verdadera alegría, la conversación festiva, la chanza inocente, la mutua benevolencia.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 Spanish corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "chanza"?
"chanza" is spelled C-H-A-N-Z-A. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈt͡ʃãnsa].
What does "chanza" mean?
As a noun, "chanza" means: Acción o dicho ingenioso hecho para divertir.
How do you pronounce "chanza"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chanza" is [ˈt͡ʃãnsa]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "chanza" come from?
"chanza" is a Spanish word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Spanish words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "chanza", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Spanish headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list