kiltvskittyWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: kilt is a verb, kitty is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“kilt” is a verb and “kitty” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,702
“kilt” frequency rank
#7,356
“kitty” frequency rank
41058
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kilt kitty
Definition To gather up (skirts) around the body. A young cat; a kitten.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
kilt
5 ch
kitty

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kilt is /kɪlt/ while kitty is /ˈkɪti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kilt is recorded at frequency rank #33,702, classified as averb, pronounced /kɪlt/. kitty is at rank #7,356, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɪti/.

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 41058, this pair ranks #261,889 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kilt vs kitty

Shared letters: ikt. Private to "kilt": l. Private to "kitty": y.

"kilt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "kitty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kiltiklt · killt · kiltt · kitl · kkilt · klit
  • kittyiktty · kittyy · kity · kityt · kkitty · ktity

Frequency comparison

kilt#33,702
kitty#7,356

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kilt" and "kitty" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kilt" is a verb and "kitty" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kilt" or "kitty"?
"kitty" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,356 in our English list, against #33,702 for "kilt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering kilt vs kitty

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “kilt”; for a noun, it's “kitty”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kilt” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list