Remove Kth Key from Dictionary - Python

Last Updated : 15 Jul, 2025

We are given a dictionary we need to remove Kth key from the dictionary. For example, we are given a dictionary d = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2', 'key3': 'value3', 'key4': 'value4'} we need to remove the key2 so that the output should be {'key1': 'value1', 'key3': 'value3', 'key4': 'value4'}.

Using del

del statement removes a specified key-value pair from a dictionary by directly referencing the key.

Python 
d = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2', 'key3': 'value3', 'key4': 'value4'}

K = 'key2' 

# Using del
del d[K]  # Removes 'key2' from the dictionary
print(f"After using del: {d}")

Output
After using del: {'key1': 'value1', 'key3': 'value3', 'key4': 'value4'}

Explanation:

  • del statement is used to remove the key-value pair associated with the key 'key2' from dictionary d which results in removal of that entry.
  • After using del d[K] dictionary d is updated and key 'key2' is no longer present in it.

Using pop()

pop() method can be used to remove the Kth key from a dictionary by first extracting the key at the desired index using list. Then pop() removes this key and returns its value ensuring safe deletion without modifying the dictionary during iteration.

Python 
d = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2', 'key3': 'value3', 'key4': 'value4'}
K = 'key2'
# Using pop()
rem_val = d.pop(K)  # Removes 'key2' and returns its value
print(f"After using pop: {d}, Removed Value: {rem_val}")

Output
After using pop: {'key1': 'value1', 'key3': 'value3', 'key4': 'value4'}, Removed Value: value2

Explanation:

  • pop() method is used to remove the key-value pair for 'key2' from dictionary d and return its value ('value2'), which is stored in variable rem_val.
  • After using pop() dictionary d is updated with 'key2' removed and removed value ('value2') is printed.

Using Dictionary Comprehension

Using dictionary comprehension we can create a new dictionary that excludes the key 'key2' by iterating over the original dictionary and filtering out the pair where key matches 'key2'.

Python 
d = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2', 'key3': 'value3', 'key4': 'value4'}
K='key1'
# Using dict comprehension
d = {key: value for key, value in d.items() if key != K}  # Creates a new dictionary excluding 'key2'
print(f"After using dict comprehension: {d}")

Output
After using dict comprehension: {'key2': 'value2', 'key3': 'value3', 'key4': 'value4'}

Explanation:

  • Dictionary comprehension iterates over the key-value pairs in the original dictionary and includes only those pairs where the key is not equal to 'key1'.
  • This results in a new dictionary that excludes the key 'key1' effectively removing it from original dictionary

Using filter()

Using the filter() function we can filter out the key-value pairs where the key matches 'key1' by applying a condition that checks if the key is not equal to 'key1'. This method returns an iterable which is then converted back into a dictionary effectively removing the key 'key1' from the original dictionary.

Python 
# Reset the dictionary for the next example
d = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2', 'key3': 'value3', 'key4': 'value4'}
K='key2'
# Using filter()
d = dict(filter(lambda item: item[0] != K, d.items()))  # Filters out 'key2'
print(f"After using filter: {d}")

Output
After using filter: {'key1': 'value1', 'key3': 'value3', 'key4': 'value4'}

Explanation:

  • filter() function is used with a lambda to exclude key-value pairs where the key is equal to 'key1' lambda function checks each dictionary item and returns True for keys that are not 'key1', effectively filtering them out.
  • Filtered result is converted back into a dictionary using dict(), leaving the key 'key1' removed from the original dictionary.
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