kicks vs kites, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“kicks” and “kites” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,371
“kicks” frequency rank: #30,474
“kites” frequency rank: 36845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	kicks	kites
Definition	plural of kick	plural of kite

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set kicks and kites apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

kicks

5 ch

kites

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. kicks (/kɪks/) and kites (/kaɪts/) 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 36845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kicks is recorded at frequency rank #6,371, classified as anoun, pronounced /kɪks/. kites is at rank #30,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kaɪts/.

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 36845, this pair ranks #299,630 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kicks vs kites

Shared letters: iks. Private to "kicks": c. Private to "kites": et.

"kicks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "kites" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

kicks ← ikcks · kciks · kiccks · kickks · kickss · kicsk · kikcs · kkicks
kites ← iktes · kiets · kitess · kitse · kittes · kkites · kties

Frequency comparison

kicks#6,371

kites#30,474

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kicks" and "kites" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/kɪks/ versus /kaɪts/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "kicks" or "kites"?

"kicks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,371 in our English list, against #30,474 for "kites". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering kicks vs kites

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kicks” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable