Chic or sheik?
chic is an adjective meaning “Elegant, stylish”; sheik is a noun meaning “Alternative form of sheikh”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) chic is about 3.8 times as common as sheik.
What is the difference between chic and sheik?
| chic | sheik | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | adjective, noun | noun |
| Meaning | Elegant, stylish Good form; style A person with (a particular type of) chic | Alternative form of sheikh |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | chicer, chicest | sheiks, shuyookh |
| Pronunciation | /ʃiːk/ /ʃik/ | not recorded |
| In writing | 4.8 times per million words | 1.3 times per million words |
Sources: chic and sheik in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of chic and sheik
chic
- 1
Elegant, stylish
- 2
Good form; style
- 3
A kind of ritual buffoon or clown in Yucatec Maya culture
- 4
A person with (a particular type of) chic
sheik
- 1
Alternative form of sheikh
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, chic or sheik?
chic appears 4.8 times per million words; sheik 1.3 times per million words.
chic 4.8 times per million wordssheik 1.3 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).