kites vs kitty, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#30,474
“kites” frequency rank: #7,356
“kitty” frequency rank: 37830
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	kites	kitty
Definition	plural of kite	A young cat; a kitten.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

kites

5 ch

kitty

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. kites (/kaɪts/) and kitty (/ˈkɪti/) 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 37830, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kites is recorded at frequency rank #30,474, classified as anoun, pronounced /kaɪts/. 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 37830, this pair ranks #291,118 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of kites vs kitty

Shared letters: ikt. Private to "kites": es. Private to "kitty": y.

"kites" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "kitty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

kites ← iktes · kiets · kitess · kitse · kittes · kkites · kties
kitty ← iktty · kittyy · kity · kityt · kkitty · ktity

Frequency comparison

kites#30,474

kitty#7,356

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "kites" and "kitty" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/kaɪts/ versus /ˈkɪti/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "kites" or "kitty"?

"kitty" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,356 in our English list, against #30,474 for "kites". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering kites vs kitty

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “kites” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable