# kindly

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈkaɪn(d)li/ · frequency rank #7,150

## Definitions
1. Having a kind personality; kind, warmhearted, sympathetic.
2. Favourable, gentle, pleasant, tidy, auspicious, beneficent.
3. Lawful.
4. Natural; inherent to the kind or race.

## Etymology
From Middle English kyndely, kyndeliche, from Old English cyndelīċ (“natural, kindly”); equivalent to kind + -ly.

## Easily confused with
- **kinds** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kindly-vs-kinds)
- **kinky** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kindly-vs-kinky)
- **Kinney** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kindly-vs-kinney)
- **Kinsey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kindly-vs-kinsey)
- **kind** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kind-vs-kindly)
- **kinda** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kinda-vs-kindly)
- **Kandy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kandy-vs-kindly)
- **kindle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kindle-vs-kindly)
- **kinder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/kinder-vs-kindly)

## Common misspellings (10)
`ikndly`, `kidnly`, `kinddly`, `kindlly`, `kindlyy`, `kindyl`, `kinldy`, `kinndly`, `kkindly`, `knidly`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/kindly