ibuvsickConfusable pair

Quick tell: ibu is a noun, ick is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ibu” is a noun and “ick” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,580
“ibu” frequency rank
#16,183
“ick” frequency rank
53763
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ibu ick
Definition Mutter unbetontes „ich“

Letter map: ibu vs ick

Shared letters muted; letters that set ibu and ick apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
ibu
3 ch
ick

Role in the sentence - ibu and ick

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: ibu is anoun and ickapronoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53763, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ibu is recorded at frequency rank #37,580, classified as anoun, pronounced […]. ick is at rank #16,183, tagged as apron, pronounced [ɪk].

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 53763, this pair ranks #1,045,183 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ibu vs ick

Shared letters: i. Private to "ibu": bu. Private to "ick": ck.

"ibu" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ick" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ibu" and "ick" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ibu" is a noun and "ick" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ibu" vs "ick" - which ranks higher?
"ick" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,183 in our German list, against #37,580 for "ibu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "ibu" vs "ick" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ibu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ick" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,045,183 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ibu" and "ick" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ibu vs puzzles". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #1,045,183 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