keene

adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"keene" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“keene” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #30,472. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#30,472
frequency rank, English
1,236
“K” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Obsolete form of keen.

Corpus desk

Index EN-keene · keene · English

keene · rank #30,472 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #30,472
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,236
  • PHOTO-FINISH Kazakh

Nearest frequency peer: Kazakh (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “keene”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “keene” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

keene vs ken
60% similar
keene vs keep
60% similar
keene vs knee
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for keene
PropertyValue
Headwordkeene
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters5
Frequency rank#30,472
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “keene”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).keenelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “Kazakh” (#30,471), “kaya” (#30,470), “kites” (#30,474). Among 1,236 “K” headwords, “keene” is #30,472. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around keene, anadjective. Corpus frequency is #30,472 among 1,236 “K” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Obsolete form of keen.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for keene, with forms such as "ekene", "keeen", and "keenne". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ken", "keep", "knee", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is keene, spelled K-E-E-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Obsolete form of keen.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how keene appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Ophe[lia] You are keene my Lord, you are keene. / Ham[let] It would coſt you a groaning, to take off my edge.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ekene
  • keeen
  • keenne
  • kenee
  • kkeene

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of keene - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ekene2keeen2keenne1kenee2kkeene1
Edit distance from "keene"

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 "keene"?
"keene" is spelled K-E-E-N-E.
What does "keene" mean?
As an adjective, "keene" means: Obsolete form of keen.
What words are commonly confused with "keene"?
"keene" is commonly confused with "ken", "keep", "knee". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "keene" come from?
"keene" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "keene", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

kites#30,474Marcy#30,493Maris#30,494Odell#30,517

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

kaya5 variantsJAMA5 variantsmousse5 variantsgabi5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list