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 eye mixes kites and kitty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kites (CVCVC) and kitty (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between kites and kitty
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "kites" and "kitty" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "kites" or "kitty"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "kites" and "kitty" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "kites" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kitty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,118 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kites" and "kitty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kites vs knits". 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 #291,118 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.