Which to use
“kilo” and “kite” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,607
- “kilo” frequency rank
- #49,177
- “kite” frequency rank
- 61784
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | kilo | kite |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (radiotéléphonie) Mot de code radiotéléphonique de l'OACI, OTAN et SIA pour la lettre latine K. | Structure de pierres sèches longue de plusieurs centaines de mètres à plusieurs kilomètres formant un piège pour des animaux sauvages. |
Where the eye mixes kilo and kite
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. kilo and kite follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses kilo with kite
A purely visual mix-up. kilo (\ˈkilo\) and kite (\kajt\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61784, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
kilo is recorded at frequency rank #12,607, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈkilo\. kite is at rank #49,177, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kajt\.
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 61784, this pair ranks #90,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of kilo vs kite
Shared letters: ik. Private to "kilo": lo. Private to "kite": et.
"kilo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "kite" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "kilo" for "kite" ever safe?
Frequency check: "kilo" vs "kite" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "kilo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "kite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #90,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "kilo" and "kite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "kiko vs kite". 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 #90,452 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.