kickvskinTell them apart

Quick tell: kick is a verb, kin is a num, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kick” is a verb and “kin” is a num - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,681
“kick” frequency rank
#39,466
“kin” frequency rank
51147
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kick kin
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs kicken fünf (5)

Where the eye mixes kick and kin

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
kick
3 ch
kin

Look-alike desk: kick vs kin

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kick is [kɪk] while kin is [kin]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs num), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kick is recorded at frequency rank #11,681, classified as averb, pronounced [kɪk]. kin is at rank #39,466, tagged as anum, pronounced [kin].

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 51147, this pair ranks #1,146,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kick vs kin

Shared letters: ik. Private to "kick": c. Private to "kin": n.

"kick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "kin" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kickikck · kcik · kicck · kickk · kikc · kkick

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kick" and "kin" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kick" is a verb and "kin" a num, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "kick" vs "kin" - which ranks higher?
"kick" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,681 in our German list, against #39,466 for "kin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "kick" and "kin" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "kick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "kin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,146,663 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kick" and "kin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kin vs Koi". 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 #1,146,663 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list