Which to use
“mimic” is a verb and “mimicry” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,218
- “mimic” frequency rank
- #45,519
- “mimicry” frequency rank
- 60737
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mimic | mimicry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To imitate, especially in order to ridicule. | An act or ability to simulate or effect the appearance, characteristics, or behavior of someone or something else. |
Where the eye mixes mimic and mimicry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mimic runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against mimicry's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mimic vs mimicry
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mimic is /ˈmɪm.ɪk/ while mimicry is /ˈmɪm.ɪ.kɹi/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “mimic” sits inside “mimicry”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60737, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mimic is recorded at frequency rank #15,218, classified as averb, pronounced /ˈmɪm.ɪk/. mimicry is at rank #45,519, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɪm.ɪ.kɹi/.
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 60737, this pair ranks #98,358 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mimic vs mimicry
Shared letters: cim. Private to "mimic": -. Private to "mimicry": ry.
"mimic" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mimicry" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mimic" and "mimicry" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "mimic" or "mimicry"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mimic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mimicry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #98,358 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mimic" and "mimicry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mimic vs MMC". 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 #98,358 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.