kek
/kɛk/
"kek" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kek” is uncommon English (frequency #54,279 among 9,255 “K” headwords), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #54,279
- frequency rank, English
- 9,255
- “K” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Used to indicate laughter or humour.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kek |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /kɛk/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #54,279 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “kek” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
kek is uncommon English at frequency #54,279 among 9,255 “K” headwords, classed as aninterjection, transcribed /kɛk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Used to indicate laughter or humour.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for kek, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Korean ㅋㅋㅋ (keukeukeu, “haha”, representation of laughter). Since this is often used in StarCraft matches, Blizzard, StarCraft’s developers, decided to reference it in World of Warcraft: when a player of the Horde faction types "lol" using the… The correct English form is kek, spelled K-E-K.
Definition
- 1Used to indicate laughter or humour.
Etymology
Borrowed from Korean ㅋㅋㅋ (keukeukeu, “haha”, representation of laughter). Since this is often used in StarCraft matches, Blizzard, StarCraft’s developers, decided to reference it in World of Warcraft: when a player of the Horde faction types "lol" using the /say messaging command, members of the opposing faction see it as "kek". Not related to "kik", a typo of "lol".
This word in other languages
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 "kek"?
What does "kek" mean?
How do you pronounce "kek"?
What is the origin of the word "kek"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “kek”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is K-E-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kɛk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.