mic vs mimic, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“mic” is a noun and “mimic” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,498
“mic” frequency rank: #15,218
“mimic” frequency rank: 24716
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	mic	mimic
Definition	Alternative form of mike (“microphone”).	To imitate, especially in order to ridicule.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mic and mimic apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

mic

5 ch

mimic

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mic is /ˈmaɪk/ while mimic is /ˈmɪm.ɪk/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “mic” sits inside “mimic”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24716, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mic is recorded at frequency rank #9,498, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈmaɪk/. mimic is at rank #15,218, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈmɪm.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 24716, this pair ranks #399,893 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mic vs mimic

Shared letters: cim. Private to "mic": -. Private to "mimic": -.

"mic" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "mimic" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

mimic ← immic · miimc · mimci · mimicc · mimmic · mmiic · mmimic

Frequency comparison

mic#9,498

mimic#15,218

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mic" and "mimic" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "mic" is a noun and "mimic" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "mic" or "mimic"?

"mic" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,498 in our English list, against #15,218 for "mimic". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mic vs mimic

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “mic”; for a verb, it's “mimic”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mic” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable