key vs KGB, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“key” is an adjective and “KGB” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,240
“key” frequency rank: #26,076
“KGB” frequency rank: 44316
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	key	KGB
Definition	Dominant, principal.	Principal service de renseignement de l’Union soviétique post-stalinienne, entre 1954 et 1991.

Where the eye mixes key and KGB

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

key

3 ch

KGB

Look-alike desk: key vs KGB

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: key is \kiː\ while KGB is \ka.ʒe.be\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

key is recorded at frequency rank #18,240, classified as anadj, pronounced \kiː\. KGB is at rank #26,076, tagged as aname, pronounced \ka.ʒe.be\.

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 44316, this pair ranks #211,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of key vs KGB

Shared letters: k. Private to "key": ey. Private to "KGB": bg.

"key" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "KGB" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "key" and "KGB" mean the same thing in a sentence?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "key" is an adjective and "KGB" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Frequency check: "key" vs "KGB" - which ranks higher?

"key" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,240 in our French list, against #26,076 for "KGB". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "key" and "KGB" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "key" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "KGB" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #211,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"key" and "KGB" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "KGB vs ky". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #211,372 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.