hicksvsHisTell them apart

Quick tell: hicks is a intj, His is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“hicks” is an intj and “His” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,111
“hicks” frequency rank
#8,079
“His” frequency rank
41190
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hicks His
Definition lautmalerische Nachahmung des Schluckaufs Ton mit 264 Hz und alle Töne im Oktavabstand dazu, um einen Halbton erhöhtes H

Where the eye mixes hicks and His

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
hicks
3 ch
His

Why the eye confuses hicks with His

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hicks is [hɪks] while His is [hɪs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41190, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hicks is recorded at frequency rank #33,111, classified as anintj, pronounced [hɪks]. His is at rank #8,079, tagged as anoun, pronounced [hɪs].

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 41190, this pair ranks #1,486,730 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of hicks vs His

Shared letters: his. Private to "hicks": ck. Private to "His": -.

"hicks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "His" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hickshciks · hhicks · hiccks · hickks · hickss · hicsk · hikcs · ihcks

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "hicks" and "His" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "hicks" is an intj and "His" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "hicks" or "His" show up more?
"His" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,079 in our German list, against #33,111 for "hicks". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "hicks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "His" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,486,730 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hicks" and "His" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hanks vs hicks". 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 #1,486,730 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list