Which to use
“kilo” and “kilos” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,489
- “kilo” frequency rank
- #20,980
- “kilos” frequency rank
- 45469
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kilo | kilos |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clipping of kilogram. | plural of kilo |
Where the eye mixes kilo and kilos
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. kilo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against kilos's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses kilo with kilos
A purely visual mix-up. kilo (/ˈkiːləʊ/) and kilos (/ˈkiːləʊz/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “kilo” sits inside “kilos”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45469, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kilo is recorded at frequency rank #24,489, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkiːləʊ/. kilos is at rank #20,980, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkiːləʊz/.
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 45469, this pair ranks #220,995 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kilo vs kilos
Shared letters: iklo. Private to "kilo": -. Private to "kilos": s.
"kilo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "kilos" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kilo" and "kilos" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "kilo" or "kilos"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "kilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kilos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #220,995 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kilo" and "kilos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kilo vs kno". 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 #220,995 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.