KiesvsKikiWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“Kies” and “Kiki” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,946
“Kies” frequency rank
#37,610
“Kiki” frequency rank
56556
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Kies Kiki
Definition lose Gesteinsstücke in einer Korngröße von etwa 3 mm bis 30 mm mehr oder minder wertloses Spielzeug, Kinderei, Kinderspiel, Kinderspielzeug, Leichtigkeit

Where the eye mixes Kies and Kiki

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

4 ch
Kies
4 ch
Kiki

Why the eye confuses Kies with Kiki

A purely visual mix-up. Kies ([kiːs]) and Kiki ([ˈkɪki]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Kies is recorded at frequency rank #18,946, classified as anoun, pronounced [kiːs]. Kiki is at rank #37,610, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈkɪki].

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 56556, this pair ranks #935,658 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Kies vs Kiki

Shared letters: ik. Private to "Kies": es. Private to "Kiki": -.

"Kies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "Kiki" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Kiesikes · keis · kiess · kise · kkies
  • Kikiikki · kiik · kikki · kkii · kkiki

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Kies" for "Kiki" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([kiːs] versus [ˈkɪki]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Kies" or "Kiki"?
"Kies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,946 in our German list, against #37,610 for "Kiki". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Kies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Kiki" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #935,658 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Kies" and "Kiki" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Kiki 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 #935,658 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