Which to use
“nic” is a pronoun and “nick” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,733
- “nic” frequency rank
- #5,745
- “nick” frequency rank
- 39478
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nic | nick |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | nichts | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs nicken |
Where the eye mixes nic and nick
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: nic vs nick
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: nic is [ɲit͡s] while nick is [nɪk]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “nic” sits inside “nick”, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nic is recorded at frequency rank #33,733, classified as apron, pronounced [ɲit͡s]. nick is at rank #5,745, tagged as averb, pronounced [nɪk].
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 39478, this pair ranks #1,535,689 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nic vs nick
Shared letters: cin. Private to "nic": -. Private to "nick": k.
"nic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "nick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- nick ← inck · ncik · nicck · nickk · nikc · nnick
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nic" for "nick" ever safe?
Frequency check: "nic" vs "nick" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "nic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nick" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,535,689 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nic" and "nick" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nic vs nox". 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 #1,535,689 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.