kindly
/ˈkaɪn(d)li/
"kindly" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kindly” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,150. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #7,150
- frequency rank, English
- 1,236
- “K” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having a kind personality; kind, warmhearted, sympathetic.
Corpus desk
Index EN-kindly · kindly · English
kindly · rank #7,150 · 10 variants · 9 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #7,150
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
- VAR-MID 10 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,236
- PHOTO-FINISH Karl
Nearest frequency peer: Karl (-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 “kindly”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Jefferson
Jefferson
92,854 corpus weight
- jerk
jerk
92,853 corpus weight
- Karl
Karl
92,852 corpus weight
- kindly
kindly
92,851 corpus weight
- kindness
kindness
92,850 corpus weight
- leaked
leaked
92,849 corpus weight
What this shows “kindly” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | kindly |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈkaɪn(d)li/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #7,150 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “kindly”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around kindly (IPA /ˈkaɪn(d)li/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #7,150 among 1,236 “K” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for kindly, with forms such as "ikndly", "kidnly", and "kinddly". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "kinds", "kinky", "Kinney", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English kyndely, kyndeliche, from Old English cyndelīċ (“natural, kindly”); equivalent to kind + -ly. The correct English form is kindly, spelled K-I-N-D-L-Y.
Definition
- 1Having a kind personality; kind, warmhearted, sympathetic.
- 2Favourable, gentle, pleasant, tidy, auspicious, beneficent.
- 3Lawful.
- 4Natural; inherent to the kind or race.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how kindly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A kindly old man sits on the park bench every afternoon feeding pigeons.
The shade by which my life was crost, […] Has made me kindly with my kind
Etymology
From Middle English kyndely, kyndeliche, from Old English cyndelīċ (“natural, kindly”); equivalent to kind + -ly.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ikndly
- kidnly
- kinddly
- kindlly
- kindlyy
- kindyl
- kinldy
- kinndly
- kkindly
- knidly
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of kindly - 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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "kindly", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).