Which to use
“Kerry” is a name and “key” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,745
- “Kerry” frequency rank
- #18,240
- “key” frequency rank
- 35985
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Kerry | key |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Comté situé au sud-ouest de l’Irlande, entre le fleuve Shannon au nord, l’océan Atlantique à l’ouest, le comté de Limerick à l’est et celui de Cork au sud. | Dominant, principal. |
Letter map: Kerry vs key
Shared letters muted; letters that set Kerry and key apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Grammar separator: Kerry vs key
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: Kerry is aname and keyanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Kerry is recorded at frequency rank #17,745, classified as aname. key is at rank #18,240, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kiː\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 35985, this pair ranks #272,786 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of Kerry vs key
Shared letters: eky. Private to "Kerry": r. Private to "key": -.
"Kerry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "key" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- Kerry ← ekrry · kerryy · kery · keryr · kkerry · krery
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Kerry" for "key" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Kerry" vs "key" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've compared "Kerry" and "key". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "Kerry" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "key" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #272,786 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Kerry" and "key" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "key vs ky". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #272,786 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.