kanji
/ˈkænd͡ʒi/
"kanji" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kanji” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,601. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #28,601
- frequency rank, English
- 9,255
- “K” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The system of writing Japanese using Chinese characters.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kanji |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkænd͡ʒi/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #28,601 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “kanji” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around kanji (IPA /ˈkænd͡ʒi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #28,601 among 9,255 “K” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for kanji, with forms such as "aknji", "kajni", and "kanij". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 16 confusable-pair relationships, "kano", "Kant", "Kari", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 漢字(かんじ) (kanji, “Chinese characters”), from Middle Chinese 漢 (MC xanH, “Han dynasty, China”) + Middle Chinese 字 (MC dziH, “[written] character”) (Compare Korean 한자 (hanja), Mandarin 漢字 /汉字 (hànzì), Vietnamese Hán tự, Hokkien 漢字 /汉字 (h… The correct English form is kanji, spelled K-A-N-J-I.
Definition
- 1The system of writing Japanese using Chinese characters.
- 2Any individual Chinese character as used in the Japanese language.
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 漢字(かんじ) (kanji, “Chinese characters”), from Middle Chinese 漢 (MC xanH, “Han dynasty, China”) + Middle Chinese 字 (MC dziH, “[written] character”) (Compare Korean 한자 (hanja), Mandarin 漢字 /汉字 (hànzì), Vietnamese Hán tự, Hokkien 漢字 /汉字 (hàn-jī / hàn-lī), Cantonese 漢字 /汉字 (hon³ zi⁶)). Doublet of hanja and Hanzi.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- aknji
- kajni
- kanij
- kanjji
- kannji
- kkanji
- knaji
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of kanji - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "kanji"?
What does "kanji" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "kanji"?
How do you pronounce "kanji"?
What is the origin of the word "kanji"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “kanji”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is K-A-N-J-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkænd͡ʒi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “kano” - see the side-by-side comparison. kanji vs kano
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.