kindvskissWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#337
“kind” frequency rank
#2,586
“kiss” frequency rank
2923
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kind kiss
Definition A type, race or category; a group of entities that have common characteristics such that they may be grouped together. To touch with the lips or press the lips against, usually to show love or affection or passion, or as part of a greeting.

Where the eye mixes kind and kiss

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

4 ch
kind
4 ch
kiss

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kind is /kaɪnd/ while kiss is /kɪs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2923, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kind is recorded at frequency rank #337, classified as anoun, pronounced /kaɪnd/. kiss is at rank #2,586, tagged as averb, pronounced /kɪs/.

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 2923, this pair ranks #523,640 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of kind vs kiss

Shared letters: ik. Private to "kind": dn. Private to "kiss": s.

"kind" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "kiss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kindiknd · kidn · kindd · kinnd · kkind · knid
  • kissikss · kis · kkiss · ksis

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kind" and "kiss" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "kind" is a noun and "kiss" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "kind" or "kiss"?
"kind" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #337 in our English list, against #2,586 for "kiss". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list