Which to use
“chat” is a noun and “chut” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,433
- “chat” frequency rank
- #12,739
- “chut” frequency rank
- 14172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chat | chut |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mammifère carnivore félin de taille moyenne, au museau court et arrondi, domestiqué, apprivoisé ou encore à l’état sauvage. | Interjection dont on se sert pour avertir ou ordonner de faire silence. |
Where the eye mixes chat and chut
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. chat and chut follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses chat with chut
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chat is \ʃa\ while chut is \ʃyt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “chat” becomes u in “chut”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chat is recorded at frequency rank #1,433, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃa\. chut is at rank #12,739, tagged as anintj, pronounced \ʃyt\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 14172, this pair ranks #397,858 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of chat vs chut
Shared letters: cht. Private to "chat": a. Private to "chut": u.
"chat" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "chut" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chat" for "chut" ever safe?
Which is more common, "chat" or "chut"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chut" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #397,858 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chat" and "chut" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chah vs chut". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #397,858 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.