Which to use
“hick” is a noun and “high” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,736
- “hick” frequency rank
- #172
- “high” frequency rank
- 40908
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hick | high |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | An awkward, naive, clumsy and/or rude country person. | Physically elevated, extending above a base or average level: |
Where the eye mixes hick and high
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: hick vs high
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: hick is /hɪk/ while high is /haɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40908, 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/. high is at rank #172, tagged as anadj, pronounced /haɪ/.
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 40908, this pair ranks #263,320 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hick vs high
Shared letters: hi. Private to "hick": ck. Private to "high": g.
"hick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "high" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hick" for "high" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hick" vs "high" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
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 "high" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #263,320 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hick" and "high" 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 #263,320 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.