Which to use
“keen” and “keene” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,804
- “keen” frequency rank
- #30,472
- “keene” frequency rank
- 36276
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | keen | keene |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Often with a prepositional phrase, or with to and an infinitive: showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness; eager, enthusiastic, interested. | Obsolete form of keen. |
Letter map: keen vs keene
Shared letters muted; letters that set keen and keene apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
keen and keene 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 extra letter(s) - “keen” sits inside “keene”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
keen is recorded at frequency rank #5,804, classified as anadj, pronounced /kiːn/. keene is at rank #30,472, tagged as anadj.
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 36276, this pair ranks #304,518 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of keen vs keene
Shared letters: ekn. Private to "keen": -. Private to "keene": -.
"keen" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "keene" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV