kilovskindWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#24,489
“kilo” frequency rank
#337
“kind” frequency rank
24826
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kilo kind
Definition Clipping of kilogram. A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together.

Where the eye mixes kilo and kind

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

4 ch
kilo
4 ch
kind

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. kilo (/ˈkiːləʊ/) and kind (/kaɪnd/) 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 24826, 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/. kind is at rank #337, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kaɪnd/.

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 24826, this pair ranks #399,029 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kilo vs kind

Shared letters: ik. Private to "kilo": lo. Private to "kind": dn.

"kilo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "kind" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kiloiklo · killo · kiol · kkilo · klio
  • kindiknd · kidn · kindd · kinnd · kkind · knid

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kilo" and "kind" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkiːləʊ/ versus /kaɪnd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "kilo" or "kind"?
"kind" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #337 in our English list, against #24,489 for "kilo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list