Which to use
“kiss” is a verb and “kites” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,586
- “kiss” frequency rank
- #30,474
- “kites” frequency rank
- 33060
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kiss | kites |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To touch with the lips or press the lips against, usually to show love or affection or passion, or as part of a greeting. | plural of kite |
Where the eye mixes kiss and kites
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: kiss is /kɪs/ while kites is /kaɪts/. 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 33060, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kiss is recorded at frequency rank #2,586, classified as averb, pronounced /kɪs/. kites is at rank #30,474, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kaɪts/.
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 33060, this pair ranks #332,582 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of kiss vs kites
Shared letters: iks. Private to "kiss": -. Private to "kites": et.
"kiss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "kites" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC