kiltvskiteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“kilt” and “kite” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,629
“kilt” frequency rank
#49,177
“kite” frequency rank
97806
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature kilt kite
Definition Jupe courte fait traditionnellement de pure laine aux motifs colorés d’un tartan. Structure de pierres sèches longue de plusieurs centaines de mètres à plusieurs kilomètres formant un piège pour des animaux sauvages.

Where the eye mixes kilt and kite

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. kilt (CVCC) and kite (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
kilt
4 ch
kite

Why the eye confuses kilt with kite

A purely visual mix-up. kilt (\kilt\) 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 97806, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

kilt is recorded at frequency rank #48,629, classified as anoun, pronounced \kilt\. 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 97806, this pair ranks #255 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of kilt vs kite

Shared letters: ikt. Private to "kilt": l. Private to "kite": e.

"kilt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "kite" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • kilt ← iklt · killt · kiltt · kitl · kkilt · klit
  • kite ← ikte · kiet · kitte · kkite · ktie

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "kilt" and "kite" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\kilt\ versus \kajt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "kilt" vs "kite" - which ranks higher?
"kilt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #48,629 in our French list, against #49,177 for "kite". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "kilt" 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 #255 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "kilt" 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 #255 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list