kind of
"kind-of" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kind of” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Slightly; somewhat; sort of.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kind of |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “kind of” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
kind of is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Slightly; somewhat; sort of.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for kind of in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From a reanalysis of kind of in a phrase such as a kind of merry dance from “a kind + of + merry dance” (a type among merry dances) to “a + kind-of merry + dance” (a somewhat merry dance). The correct English form is kind of, spelled K-I-N-D- -O-F.
Definition
- 1Slightly; somewhat; sort of.
Etymology
From a reanalysis of kind of in a phrase such as a kind of merry dance from “a kind + of + merry dance” (a type among merry dances) to “a + kind-of merry + dance” (a somewhat merry dance).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “kind of”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is K-I-N-D- -O-F - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.