Which to use
“hick” is a noun and “Hicks” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,736
- “hick” frequency rank
- #13,530
- “Hicks” frequency rank
- 54266
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hick | Hicks |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An awkward, naive, clumsy and/or rude country person. | A surname originating as a patronymic derived from Hick, a medieval diminutive of Richard. |
Where the eye mixes hick and Hicks
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. hick runs 4 letters (CVCC) against Hicks's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: hick vs Hicks
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hick is /hɪk/ while Hicks is /hɪks/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “hick” sits inside “Hicks”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54266, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hick is recorded at frequency rank #40,736, classified as anoun, pronounced /hɪk/. Hicks is at rank #13,530, tagged as aname, pronounced /hɪks/.
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 54266, this pair ranks #142,441 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hick vs Hicks
Shared letters: chik. Private to "hick": -. Private to "Hicks": s.
"hick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "Hicks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hick" for "Hicks" ever safe?
Which is more common, "hick" or "Hicks"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Hicks" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #142,441 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hick" and "Hicks" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hick vs HIIT". 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 #142,441 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.