Which to use
“kami” and “kay” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,269
- “kami” frequency rank
- #7,935
- “kay” frequency rank
- 36204
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kami | kay |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An animistic god or spirit in the Shinto religion of Japan. | The name of the Latin script letter K/k. |
Letter map: kami vs kay
Shared letters muted; letters that set kami and kay apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Corpus notes: kami and kay
kami and kay are indexed as a confusable English pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36204, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kami is recorded at frequency rank #28,269, classified as anoun. kay is at rank #7,935, tagged as anoun, pronounced /keɪ/.
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 36204, this pair ranks #305,233 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kami vs kay
Shared letters: ak. Private to "kami": im. Private to "kay": y.
"kami" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "kay" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- kami ← akmi · kaim · kammi · kkami · kmai
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kami" for "kay" ever safe?
Frequency check: "kami" vs "kay" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pair "kami" vs "kay" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "kami" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kay" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #305,233 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kami" and "kay" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kami vs koji". 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 #305,233 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.