Which to use
“kilo” and “kite” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,489
- “kilo” frequency rank
- #13,945
- “kite” frequency rank
- 38434
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kilo | kite |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Clipping of kilogram. | A bird of prey of the family Accipitridae. |
Where the eye mixes kilo and kite
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses kilo with kite
A purely visual mix-up. kilo (/ˈkiːləʊ/) and kite (/kaɪt/) 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 38434, 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/. kite is at rank #13,945, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kaɪt/.
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 38434, this pair ranks #285,949 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kilo vs kite
Shared letters: ik. Private to "kilo": lo. Private to "kite": et.
"kilo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "kite" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kilo" for "kite" ever safe?
Frequency check: "kilo" vs "kite" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "kilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #285,949 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kilo" and "kite" 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 #285,949 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.